Effect of Surface EMG Biofeedback on Gait among Stroke subjects: A Randomized Clinical Trial

Background and Objectives Stroke is the most acquired neurological condition among adult population worldwide. Often stroke survivors have walking limitations and are unable to walk without assistance. Hence this study was designed to study the effect of surface electromyograph EMG biofeedback on gait among stroke subjects.Methods A randomized controlled trial was conducted on chronic stroke patients with circumductory gait and single episode of major stroke at National Institute of Unani Medicine Bengaluru India. The experimental group n15 underwent surface EMG biofeedback for 20 minutesday 5 timesweek for 4 weeks. The control group n15 performed conventional physiotherapy. Both the groups underwent circuit gait training. The primary outcome measures were stride length step length stride width cadence and degree of toe out.The measurement was taken prior to intervention and after the intervention.Results Baseline characteristics were similar in both the groups with mean age of 49plusmn6.34 years. Both the groups similarly improved in walking at four weeks. There was no statistically significant improvement between experimental and control group p gt 0.05. However comparison within group indicated improvement in stride width step length degree of toe out and cadence in experimental group.Conclusion Although surface EMG biofeedback is used in physiotherapy widely in clinical practice the result provided little evidence to support the clinical significance of using EMG biofeedback to improve gait variables in chronic phase of stroke.