EFFECTS of OTAGO EXERCISES in ADDITION to ROUTINE PHYSICAL THERAPY on BALANCE and FUNCTIONAL ACTIVITIES in PATIENTS with STROKE.

Study Design: Randomized Clinical Trial.

Screening:

Patients were screened to meet inclusion criteria. The consent form taken from patients then patients were randomly allocated into two groups ( 29 in each group).

Randomization:

Using the lottery approach, patients who met the inclusion criteria were split into experimental and control groups at random by the online tool for randomization.

Blinding:

To ensure precision and mitigating the bias the assessor of outcome was kept blind also. An independent assessor specialized in this technique and having more than 5 years experience screened patients, and they were subsequently randomly assigned to either the experimental group. The computer-generated allocation sequence was established prior to the study's commencement.

Assessment:

Data was collected at baseline, fourth week and then at the end of the eighth week. Baseline assessments will be conducted before the intervention. Post-intervention assessments will be conducted immediately after the intervention. Statistical analysis will include descriptive statistics, t-tests, and analysis of variance to compare the outcomes between the two groups.

Intervention:

The intervention group A received routine physical therapy in addition to the Otago Exercise Program, while the control group B received routine physical therapy alone.

GROUP A: ( Modified Otago Exercise with Routine care Physical therapy) GROUP B: ( ROUTINE CARE PHYSICAL THERAPY )

Outcome Measures:

Primary outcome:

Balance was assessed using the Berg Balance Scale (BBS)

Secondary outcomes:

Functional activities the physical performance was assessed using the 30-s Chair Stand Test (30 s-CST).

Ethical Considerations: This study has received ethical approval from the Institutional Review Board (IRB). Informed consent was obtained from all participants.

Data Analysis: Statistical software was used to analyze the data, with appropriate tests employed based on data normality to compare outcomes between groups.

Inclusion criteria

• Participants aged between 60 to 70 years old (Verheyden et al., 2013).
• Both genders (Khumpaneid et al., 2022).
• Patients who have been diagnosed with ischemic stroke by a medical professional(Khumpaneid et al., 2022).
• Eligible for movement without using any walking aid equipment (Khumpaneid et al.,2022).
• Exercise less than 150 mins per week (Khumpaneid et al., 2022).
• Timed Up and Go score is more than 10 (Khumpaneid et al., 2022).
• Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) score ≥ 24 (Page et al., 2007).
• Urinary and bowel continence (Jin et al., 2023) .

Exclusion criteria

• Patients who have severe cognitive impairment or communication difficulties (Jin et al., 2023).
• Participants who have neurological conditions (e.g., Parkinson's disease), vision problems or contagious diseases (Khumpaneid et al., 2022).
• Patients who have undergone surgery in the past 3 months (Jin et al., 2023