VOLUME 30 , ISSUE 4 ( October-December, 2019 ) > List of Articles
Lahunlang M Sohliya, Raji Thomas, Pamidipani Samuel Sundar Rao
Citation Information : Sohliya LM, Thomas R, Rao PS. Randomized Controlled Trial of Rhythmic Auditory Stimulation for Gait Training in Persons with Unilateral Transtibial Amputation. Indian J Phy Med Rehab 2019; 30 (4):105-111.
DOI: 10.5005/jp-journals-10066-0063
License: CC BY-NC 4.0
Published Online: 27-01-2021
Copyright Statement: Copyright © 2019; The Author(s).
One of the major needs of a person who has undergone a lower limb amputation is to regain the ability to walk again. Rhythmic auditory stimulation (RAS) is believed to be based on the mechanism of rhythmic entrainment and priming of auditory pathway. Based on this concept, a randomized controlled trial was carried out using RAS for prosthetic gait training of amputee patients admitted to a rehabilitation unit in south India during 2014. CONSORT guidelines for RCT were used and minimum sample size determined as 16 in each group. Forty-four patients (24 in the RAS and 20 in the control group) were recruited, and due to dropouts, complete data were available for only 13 patients in the RAS and 16 in the control group. Baseline parameters were similar in both the groups. Beats were made on Acoustica Beatcraft, a drum machine software program on the Internet. Three primary outcomes and five secondary outcomes were objectively assessed. Although not statistically significant, those in the RAS group completed training faster than those in the control group. There were some factors that hindered therapy and delayed time to completion which are discussed in the article. We conclude that RAS can be used as a cost-effective home-based rehabilitation method for gait training.