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The Effects of Expert Instruction and Written Instruction Only on Balance Performance: A Randomized Control Trial

Bijal Patel, Mike Garre, Christopher Owens S and Brian H Edmunds

Background: Home exercise instruction is a common treatment intervention employed by physical therapists. To the author’s knowledge, no studies have assessed the effectiveness of one-on-one expert interaction versus written home exercise instruction on performance of a physical activity.

Methods: Thirty-five healthy men and women volunteered to participate. Subjects were randomly assigned to two intervention groups: expert instruction or written instruction only. Balance performance was measured before and after performance of home base balance training protocol. Balance performance was assessed using The Balance System Dynamic machine sway index measurements.

Results: Thirty-five subjects completed the study. The expert group consisted of 20 subjects and the non-expert group consisted of 15 subjects. There was no significant difference in balance performance between groups following performance of home base balance training protocol.

Conclusions: The results of this study suggest that written only home based balance protocol instruction in the form of a handout can provide the same outcome as expert instruction by a board certified neurologic specialist.