BACKGROUND: 50% to 65% of stroke survivors have residual motor deficits; principal among them is hemiparetic gait that limits mobility, increases the risk of falls and promoting sedentary life style. Motor imagery (MI) an active process during which a specific action is reproduced within working memory without any real movements. There are evidences for MI training in enhancing motor learning, neural reorganization and cortical activation in stroke patients. However efficacy of Mental practice training involving lower extremity mobility tasks are limited in literature. AIM: To investigate the effect of combining mental practice with physical practice on functional mobility and quality of life in ambulant stroke subjects. METHODOLOGY: 24 hemiparetic patients (> 6 months post-stroke) who can able to walk 10 m with good imagery ability in KVIQ-20 >= 60 and Time dependent motor imagery screening test were recruited and randomly allocated into physical practice group (n = 12) and physical plus mental practice group (n = 12). Subjects in both groups underwent task orientated training for lower extremity 45 minutes, 6 days a week for 3 weeks. In addition, the experimental group received 15 minutes of Audio-based lower extremity tasks for imagery practice. Berg Balance Scale (BBS), Functional Gait Assessment (FGA) and Stroke Impact Scale-16 (SIS-16) were the outcome measures used to measure functional mobility and compared between the groups. RESULTS: Post treatment there was a significant difference in BBS, FGA and SIS-16 scores for both the groups. Between groups the mean (SD) differences scores for BBS, FGA and SIS-16 was statistically significantly after three weeks of intervention in Mental Practice group (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: The results of this study support lower extremity imagery training provide additional benefits to regular physiotherapy to improve functional mobility in chronic ambulant stroke patients.

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