Rabia Basri, Umar Hayat, Sajjad Ali Khan.
Effectiveness of Circuit Class Training vs. Individual Task Specific Training on Lower Limb Strength Post- stroke Cases (Single blinded Randomized Clinical Trial).
Ophthalmol Update Jan ;15(3):272-7.

Back ground and purpose: Task specificity and its progression are the key variables in acquiring motor skills after stroke and reported consistently with significant results when carried out at individual level. Due to number of benefits associated with circuit trainings, it`s getting popular for stroke rehabilitation as alternative approach to individual based trainings. Objective: To examine the effectiveness of circuit class training vs. individual task specific training on lower limb strength in post stroke. Study Design: Single blinded randomized controlled trial. Settings: Fauji Foundation Hospital//Rafsan Paraplegic Center Peshawar/physiotherapy clinic of Khyber Medical University (KMU). Interventions: Total n=64 participants randomly allocated into two groups using the simple random sampling, circuit group n=32 and individual group n=32. The both group received task specific training individually for 1.5 hour daily for 5 days per week for 4 weeks. The circuit group received task specific training in circuit while the individual group received the task specific training one by one. Total n=2 subjects left the study with mentioned domestic problems. Main measures: The isometric muscle testing of lower limb was done by hand held dynamometer, the testing of the functional parameters was done by modified Motor Assessment Scale (MAS), 6 Minute Walk Test (6MWT) and by Time up and Go Test (TUGT). Result: Muscle strength significantly improved in both the groups after 4 week training program( P<0.01, Paired sample t-test) except ankle strength that was not significantly improved in individual group ( P>0.01, Paired sample t-test). Among the functional measures both the groups reported significant improvement on MAS (P<0.01, Paired sample t-test) also the circuit group reported for significant improvement on 6MWT and on TUGT (P<0.01, Paired sample t-test) but the individual group didn`t improved on 6MWT and on TUGT test after 4 week training (P>0.01, Paired sample t-test). The between group analysis suggested a significant improvement for circuit group over muscle strength, MAS, 6MWT and for TUGT (P<0.01, ANOVA). The gain in strength was significantly associated with all functional measures (P<0.01, Pearson correlation test). Conclusion: The circuit class training can improve lower extremity muscle strength among stoke patients better than individual task specific training and can carry this improvement into functional abilities.

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