The Effect of a Task‐Oriented Walking Intervention on Improving Balance Self‐Efficacy Poststroke: A Randomized, Controlled Trial

Abstract

Objectives: To evaluate the efficacy of a task‐oriented walking intervention in improving balance self‐efficacy in persons with stroke and to determine whether effects were task‐specific, influenced by baseline level of self‐efficacy and associated with changes in walking and balance capacity. Design: Secondary analysis of a two‐center, observer‐blinded, randomized, controlled trial. Setting: General community. Participants: Ninety‐one individuals with a residual walking deficit within 1 year of a first or recurrent stroke. Intervention: Task‐oriented interventions targeting walking or upper extremity (UE) function were provided three times a week for 6 weeks. Measurements: Activities‐specific Balance Confidence Scale, Six‐Minute Walk Test, 5‐m walk, Berg Balance Scale, and Timed “Up and Go” administered at baseline and postintervention. Results: The walking intervention was associated with a significantly greater average proportional change in balance self‐efficacy than the UE intervention. Treatment effects were largest in persons with low self‐efficacy at baseline and for activities relating to tasks practiced. In the walking group, change in balance self‐efficacy correlated with change in functional walking capacity (correlation coefficient=0.45, 95% confidence interval=0.16–0.68). Results of multivariable modeling suggested effect modification by the baseline level of depressive symptoms and a prognostic influence of age, sex, comorbidity, time poststroke, and functional mobility on change in self‐efficacy. Conclusion: Task‐oriented walking retraining enhances balance self‐efficacy in community‐dwelling individuals with chronic stroke. Benefits may be partially the result of improvement in walking capacity. The influence of baseline level of self‐efficacy, depressive symptoms, and prognostic variables on treatment effects are of clinical importance and must be verified in future studies.