Effects of TDCS combined with Mat exercises on balance in patients with stroke

Abstract The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the effect of transcranial direct current stimulation (TDCS) along with Mat exercises in stroke. A single blinded RCT with ‘intention to treat’ analysis was conducted according to the ‘Consolidated standards of reporting trial (CONSORT)’ 2010 guidelines. Patients suffering from haemorrhagic/ischemic stroke with unilateral hemiplegia having balance problems and age group above the 40 years were included in this study. A total of 32 participants were randomly allocated into two groups: Group A (n = 16) and Group B (n = 16). The patients in Group A were treated with TDCS and Mat exercises whereas participants of Group B were given sham TDCS for 15 min and conventional balance training. The treatment was given alternatively, thrice a week, for 2 weeks. Entire procedure was completed within 45-60 min. Two outcome measures were used to assess the balance, i.e. functional reach test (FRT) and time up & go test (TUG). There were more males than females in both experimental groups. Results of baseline comparison reported that there was a statistically non-significant difference in the variables and the data were normally distributed. Results of the within group analysis found that there was statistically significant improvement in pre- and post-intervention scores of both groups. Results of between group analysis showed that there was a statistically significant improvement in the variables of Group A compared to Group B. This study concludes that the combined use of TDCS along with Mat exercises can improve the balance as compared to Sham TDCS along with conventional balance training.