Effects of square stepping exercise in patients with sequel of cerebrovascular accident

Abstract

Introduction: Cerebral stroke is the interruption of blood flow to the brain and can be classified into hemorrhagic and ischemic. It may result in serious body balance and cognition complications. Kinesiotherapy is a privileged means of rehabilitation. Objective: Verify the effects of Square Stepping Exercise (SSE) on cognitive functions, depressive symptoms and the body balance of cerebral stroke sequel patients. Methods: Thirteen brain stroke sequel patients were divided into two groups: SSE (SSEG n = 8) and conventional physiotherapy group (PG, n = 5). The SSEG participated only of the SSE training protocol, while the PG participated of its physical therapy routine group, both for 4 months. They were evaluated using the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE), the Brief Cognitive Screening Battery (BBRC), the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS), Berg Balance Scale (BBS) and Timed Up and Go (TUG). Results: The U Mann Whitney test showed no significant differences between groups. In intragroup analysis, the Wilcoxon test showed significant improvement in global cognitive status for PG (p < 0.042), and for SSEG there were positive results for verbal fluency (p < 0.04) and in TUG for number of steps (p<0, 04) and the time (p < 0.02). Conclusion: The SSE seems to benefit dynamic balance, influencing gait agility, cognition related to verbal fluency and may have contributed to maintain other cognitive functions.