Effects of Rehabilitation Before Lung Transplantation on Balance

Purpose: This study examined the effects of prelung transplant rehabilitation on balance and examined the relationship between clinical balance tests, instrumented balance assessments, and functional measures of strength and exercise capacity. Methods: Participants completed 1-month of 5 d/wk, multimodal, outpatient rehabilitation. They performed the Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB), Four Square Step Test, Fullerton Advanced Balance (FAB) Scale, Short-Form FAB, Modified Clinical Test of Sensory Interaction with Balance (mCTSIB), Limits of Stability Test (LOS), 6-minute walk distance (6MWD), and clinical strength assessments. Changes prerehabilitation to postrehabilitation were assessed using t tests. Pearson correlation coefficient assessed the relationship between baseline tests. Effect size was calculated using Cohen d. Results: Thirty-nine participants (age = 50 [16] years) completed pretransplant rehabilitation. Participants showed impaired dynamic balance measured through clinical balance tests and LOS which significantly improved with moderate change postrehabilitation. Most mCTSIB components had a small, nonsignificant change. Functional strength and 6MWD improved significantly prerehabilitation to postrehabilitation. Changes in clinical balance were correlated with changes in LOS, SPPB, 5 times sit-to-stand, and arm strength. Conclusions: Balance improvements in candidates for lung transplant, after a multimodal rehabilitation program, seem to be most closely associated with improvement in dynamic balance and lower extremity functional strength.