Wii Workout Improves Stroke Patient CV Function & Physical Conditioning
“A short but intense Wii-based program not only improved physical function in stroke patients, but added a beneficial cardiovascular challenge, a small study found.
Among the 25 patients, peak heart rate significantly increased from early to late therapy (P<0.001), and was 34.4% higher on average than resting heart rate by late therapy, according to Penelope McNulty, PhD, from the Neuroscience Research Australia in Sydney, and colleagues.
In addition, there was a significant sport-specific gradient increase in peak heart rate, ranging from 18.1% in golf to 39.8% in tennis (P<0.001), McNulty reported at the American Stroke Association’s International Stroke Conference here.
McNulty pointed out that a combination of factors in stroke patients leads to decreased aerobic capacity. These include limited motor disability, muscle atrophy, and the increased metabolic demands of a hemiparetic gait.
However, many of the goals in post-stroke rehabilitation, particularly during the subacute period, center on speech and effective locomotion, McNulty told MedPage Today.
‘An insufficient focus on cardiovascular fitness is often the result of limited resources or access to those resources,’ McNulty said. ‘Our study suggests that a better effort should perhaps be made to combine cardiovascular challenges with speech and locomotion therapy early in the rehabilitation process.’
The results need to be confirmed in larger studies, she said.”
