The effects of physical therapy on exaggerated muscle tonicity, balance and quality of life on hemiparetic patients due to stroke.

Objective: To determine the effects of physical therapy on balance, exaggerated muscle tonicity and quality of life on patients with hemiparesis.

Methods: This quasi-experimental study was conducted in 2011 among male hemiparetic patients secondary to stroke, at a physiotherapy centre in Neyshabur, Iran. Twenty-four patients were randomly assigned to two equal groups representing the cases and the controls.The cases were assigned to do the practical protocol for 4 weeks.To collect the data, Berg Balance Scaling, Modified Ashworth Scale, Barthel Activities of Daily Living Index and demographic questionnaires were used. Paired and un-paired t-tests were used to analyse data. All analyses were done on SPSS 16.

Results: The two groups were similar before intervention. Post-test analysis showed that the average balance and quality of life significantly improved (p<0.001) among the cases, and the quadriceps muscle tonicity decreased (p<0.001). Among the controls, there was no significant change between pre-test and post-test readings.

Conclusions: Physical therapy can enhance balance and quality of life of hemiparetic patients and reduces their exaggerated muscle tonicity.