Efficacy of the structured balance awareness program on perceived balance confidence and fear-related maladaptive behaviour in post-stroke survivors.

Background The risk of falling for individuals with stroke is about twice that of healthy older adults. Lack of appropriate initiative to address the fear-related maladaptive behaviour can manifest itself in the form of loss of physical functions resulting in disability and handicap. Objective To examine the effectiveness of the structured balance awareness program (SBAP) in improving the perceived balance confidence, and thereby modifying the fear-related maladaptive behaviour in post-stroke survivors. Methods A randomized experimental control design was used on a sample of 97 post-stroke survivors aged between 55 to 75 years. The patients received either the SBAP or health awareness program (HAP) for eight weeks and were compared on Activities-specific Balance Confidence (ABC) Scale, Berg Balance Scale (BBS) and Falls Efficacy Scale International (FESI). Results A paired t-test demonstrated statistically significant improvement among all the variables in the SBAP group. An independent t-test exhibited a statistically significant improvement on ABC (t = 2.57, p = 0.012 *), BBS (t = 3.32, p = 0.001 *) and FESI (t = 3.38, p = 0.001 *) in the SBAP group. Conclusion The study showed that the SBAP was effective in minimizing the fear-related maladaptive behaviour in post-stroke survivors.