Performance of Post-Stroke Patient's Balance on a Game Platform "Game Balance" and its Correlation with Functional Tests: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Introduction: Commercial platforms are widely used in research to assess and treat balance deficits in post-stroke patients. However, they do not provide the necessary specificity for the limitations and/or compensations that these patients may present. It is also difficult to extract the captured data, and there are concerns about the accuracy of this capture. Objective:To validate a low-cost game platform called "Game Balance" for the analysis and training of balance in post-stroke patients. Materials and Methods: This is a cross-sectional study with a quantitative approach. Eight (8) post-stroke patients of both genders were recruited from the Physiotherapy Clinic of FACISA (Santa Cruz/RN). This sample was evaluated using the following clinical scales: Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), Functional Ambulation Categories (FAC), The Modified Clinical Test of Sensory Interaction and Balance (mCTSIB), Modified Rankin Scale (mRS), and Fugl-Meyer Assessment Scale. The statistical analysis was performed using means or medians and standard deviation or quartiles, followed by correlation analysis using the Pearson coefficient based on the identification of data normality or non-normality using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software, version 20.0, with a significance level of 5%. Results: We had an n = 8, with a majority of males (62.5%), a mean age of 60.88 ± 11.67 years, and a majority of patients with ischemic stroke (62.5%) and left hemiparesis (75%) for a duration of 6.75 ± 4.33 years. Significant correlations were found between age and scores on "Game Balance" (Pearson's ρ = -0.743; p-value = 0.035), as well as between scores and activity time on the platform (Pearson's ρ = -0.738; p-value = 0.037), and between limb balance on the platform and the Rankin scale (Pearson's ρ = -0.745; p-value = 0.034). Conclusions:The platform achieved the proposed objective, with some relationships between the variables of the device and the physical conditions of the selected population. The results of this research serve as a basis for future studies aiming to establish the effectiveness of this therapeutic approach in the rehabilitation of post-stroke sequelae.