Angelo Paolo Amico, Mattia Nisi, Ilaria Covelli, Angela Maria Polito, Sabino Damiani, Giancarlo Ianieri, Marisa Megna and Pietro Fiore
Background: The multiple sclerosis is often associated with motor impairment and disorders of gait and balance, which are thought to be the main causes of the worsening of quality of life and functional autonomy. Many people with multiple sclerosis have a higher incidence of falls than healthy people, so that they risk more traumas; the lack of movement related to the motor impairment is therefore enhanced by the fear of falls.
Aims: To assess the efficacy of the "Prokin"system, composed of balance board and visual/acoustic feedback, associated with conventional proprioceptive training in increasing static and dynamic balance, proprioception, coordination and functional autonomy in patients with multiple sclerosis and to compare it with conventional physical therapy.
Methods: We enrolled 23 patients with defined SM (4 men, 19 women) divided into 2 groups (A and B).
Patients of group A (14) underwent 2 series of 10 sessions of 2-a-week proprioceptive training with Prokin system; patients of group B (5) underwent 2 series of 10 sessions of a 3-a-week conventional balance training. Each patient was assessed at t0 (before training), t1 (after 10 sessions) and t2 (after 20 sessions) with clinical scales for balance control (Tinetti, Berg) and autonomy (Barthel), and with instrumental tests (stabilometry, analyzing sway area, length of track and sway speed; and proprioceptive multiaxial assessment, exploring the Average Track Error).
Results: In group A we found statistically significant (p<0,05) differences between the mean scores of all the clinical and instrumental assessments at t0 and at t2, in the sense of a better postural stability, cohordination and autonomy. No significant differences were found from t0 to t2 in group B. Conclusions: Our study showed that this new kind of proprioceptive training (Prokin) is more able to ameliorate balance, motor performance and global autonomy in patients with multiple sclerosis than conventional therapy. This allows the patients to move themselves and walk with more safety, preventing falls and traumatic events.