COMPARATIVE EFFECTS OF TASK ORIENTED EXERCISES AND TACTILE STIMULATION ON BALANCE AND FUNCTIONAL MOBILITY IN PATIENTS WITH LOWER LIMB PERIPHERAL NEUROPATHY: A RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL

The peripheral neuropathy affecting the lower limbs reduces plantar sensation and propensity, and increases the falls risk. There is a lack of a head-on comparison between task-oriented exercises, and tactile stimulation. A total of 60 lower-limb peripheral neuropathy patients (age 40 to 65 years) were randomly allocated to two physiotherapy clinics of Multan, Pakistan, into two different groups: Group A, task-oriented exercises combined with conventional physical therapy, and Group B, tactile stimulation combined with conventional physical therapy for 6 weeks four times weekly. Berg Balance Scale (BBS) and Timed Up and Go test (TUG) were used to measure balance and functional mobility before and after. There were significant differences in both scores for both groups (all p < .001) even though baseline and post intervention scores were not different between groups, Group A had larger gains for both scores when compared to Group B: BBS (7.47 vs. 4.37 points) and TUG (4.15 vs. 2.24 s; both between group differences p < .001). Both groups received standard physical therapy, and thus results only show relative improvements, as the mean BBS score remained in the low fall risk range in Group A and moderate range in Group B. Future well-designed studies with a common intervention arm should be conducted.