Effect of Auditory Stimulus using White Nosie on Dynamic Balance in Patients with Chronic Stroke during Walking

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the effect of white noise on dynamic balance in patients with stroke during walking. Method: Nineteen patients with chronic stroke (age: 61.2±9.8 years, height: 164.4±7.4 cm, weight: 61.1±9.4 kg, paretic side (R/L): 11/8, duration: 11.6±4.9 years) were included as study participants. Auditory stimulus used white noise, and all participants listened for 40 minutes mixing six types of natural sounds with random sounds. The dynamic balancing ability was evaluated while all participants walked before and after listening to white noise. The variables were the center of pressure (CoP), the center of mass (CoM), CoP-CoM inclined angle. Results: There is a significant increase in the antero-posterior (A-P) CoP range, A-P inclination angle, and gait speed on the paretic and non-paretic sides following white noise intervention (p<.05). Conclusion: Our findings confirmed the positive effect of using white noise as auditory stimulus through a more objective and quantitative assessment using CoP-CoM inclination angle as an evaluation indicator for assessing dynamic balance in patients with chronic stroke. The A-P and M-L inclination angle can be employed as a useful indicator for evaluating other exercise programs and intervention methods for functional enhancement of patients with chronic stroke in terms of their effects on dynamic balance and effectiveness.