Effect of core stabilization exercises in addition to conventional therapy in improving trunk mobility, function, ambulation and quality of life in stroke patients: a randomized controlled trial

Background Stroke is a major cause of disability with mainly affecting trunk mobility and function. The purpose of this study is to determine the effectiveness of core stabilization exercises versus conventional therapy on trunk mobility, function, ambulation, and quality of life of stroke patients. Design Assessor blinded randomized control trial. Setting Ibrahim polyclinic-Shadman, Ch Muhammad Akram teaching hospital-Raiwind, Rasheed hospital-Defence. Subjects Chronic ischemic stroke patients. Intervention Control group (n = 21) underwent conventional treatment for stroke for 40 min/ day, 5 times/ week for 8 weeks. Experimental group (n = 20) received core stability training for additional 15 min along with conventional treatment. Main measures Main outcome measures were Trunk impairment scale (TIS), functional ambulation category (FAC), stroke specific quality of life (SSQOL) and trunk range of motion (ROM). Results The differences between the control group and experimental group post-treatment were statistically significant for trunk impairment, functional ambulation, quality of life, and frontal plane trunk motion (p-value < 0.05) with higher mean values for core stabilization training. The frontal plane trunk mobility and rotation showed non-significant differences post-treatment (p-value > 0.05). Conclusion This study concluded that core stabilization training is better as compared to the conventional physical therapy treatment for improving trunk impairments, functional ambulation and quality of life among patients of stroke. The core stabilization training is also more effective in improving trunk mobility in sagittal plane. This study is registered in Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials IRCT20210614051578N1 and was approved by the local research ethics committee of Riphah International University.