Effectiveness of Aquatic Dual-Task Training on Balance Recovery in Individuals with Stroke: A Review

One of the most common complaints following a stroke is loss of balance, which affects around half of all stroke patients. Nevertheless, there is no general physiotherapy method that proved to be more effective in improving post-stroke balance. This study aimed to investigate literature regarding the use of aquatic dual-task exercises for improving balance ability post-stroke.

A literature search was performed with the help of Cochrane Library, PubMed, and Embase databases to select the studies related to aquatic dual-task training on balance improvement in stroke patients. The inclusion criteria were full-text published articles in English, studies that included patients above the age of 18 years with diagnosed stroke, which investigated any form of aquatic exercise therapy with a dual-task aimed at improving post-stroke balance control while comparing pre-intervention and post-intervention outcome measures.

With the help of given keywords, 573 articles were found initially. After excluding articles for various reasons, three articles were finally included in the review.

According to the results of this study, it can be concluded that aquatic dual-task training has a positive impact on the balance improvement of stroke patients.