Effectiveness of Body Awareness Therapy in Stroke Survivors: A Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials

Abstract

: Body awareness therapy has been hypothesized as an effective program for maintaining balance and improving gait function in patients with neurological diseases. Nevertheless, there is a dearth of recent studies in a systematic way to confirm its efficacy on stroke survivors. The objective of this review was to synthesize the current evidence on the effectiveness of body awareness therapy on balance and gait function in stroke survivors. A comprehensive search of PubMed, CINAHL, AMED, PEDro, EMBASE, REHABDATA Database, and Scopus was done to identify randomized controlled trials of body awareness therapy in individuals with stroke. The PEDro scale was used to evaluate the methodological quality of included trials. The primary outcome measures of this review were the 10-Meter Walk Test (10MWT) and Berg Balance Scale (BBS). Due to varying included trials, meta-analysis was not carried out. Nine randomized controlled trials with 332 patients were analyzed. Body awareness therapy exhibited a moderate confirmation to better balance and gait function of stroke survivors. Body awareness therapy could be a well-founded rehabilitative intervention and might support enhanced balance and gait function of individuals with stroke.