BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The transfer movement from sitting to standing is a key prerequisite for vertical mobility, and a key factor for independence in daily life. In day-to-day practice with severely affected patients, however, it has proven to be the case that training cannot be carried out with the necessary frequency, because the physical demands on the person receiving treatment are often too great. The "Sitz-zu-Stand Trainer" was developed to support this transfer movement in a biomechanically correct manner, to alleviate the physical demands on therapists in the most severely affected patients, and to provide patients with a training device for sitting-to-standing transfer. The effects of the training using the device were measured in hemiparesis patients. METHODS: The authors conducted a randomised, controlled pilot study with follow-up on 30 acute stroke patients. Both groups received 9 sessions of treatment over a period of 3 weeks. During the treatment period, the intervention group practised with the "Sitz-zu-Stand Trainer", while the patients in the control group received conventional therapy with a focus on the activities sitting to standing and standing. Primary standardised measurement procedures were applied (Barthel Index, Rivermead Mobility Index, Berg Balance Scale), and in addition a questionnaire for therapists and patients was used as a secondary measurement procedure. RESULTS: After three weeks of therapy, both groups had improved significantly. On the Berg Balance Scale, the patients in the experimental group (STS) initially scored 9.53 (+/- 5.98) and the patients in the control group (kT) 5.35 (+/- 5.19); these scores improved significantly in both groups (experimental group p = 0.008, control group p = 0.005), in the experimental group to 21.38 (+/- 15.31) and in the control group to 13.42 (+/- 13.95). On the Rivermead Mobility Index, the patients in the experimental group initially scored 2.61 (+/- 0.50) and the patients in the control group 1.78 (+/- 0.97); these scores improved significantly in both groups (experimental group p = 0.005, control group p = 0.002), in the experimental group to 5.61 (+/- 3.45) and in the control group to 4.14 (+/- 2.68). In both measurement procedures, the experimental group displayed bigger points differences between the start and end of the therapy. On the Barthel Index, the patients in the experimental group initially scored 36.15 (+/- 13.71) and the patients in the control group 16.42 (+/- 13.21); these scores improved significantly in both groups (experimental group p = 0.008, control group p = 0.005), in the experimental group to 45.77 (+/- 13.97) and in the control group to 34.28 (+/- 16.85). In the questionnaire for therapists, the therapists for the STS experimental group were less physically challenged and experienced fewer aches and pains than those for the kT control group. In both groups, the therapists were agreed that daily standing is very important for patients. In the questionnaire for patients, it was indicated that the patients in the STS experimental group found the therapy more physically challenging than the patients in the control group kT. DISCUSSION: This pilot study shows that the "Sitz-zu-Stand Trainer" can support and improve the neurological rehabilitation of severely affected patients, whilst simultaneously improving the working conditions for the therapists. Both groups achieved a significant improvement in the primary measurement procedures, including in the follow-up after 3 months. Thus it can be assumed that the combination of device-assisted therapy using the "Sitz-zu-Stand-Trainer" and conventional therapy is beneficial.

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