a stroke is a very serious disease and is accompanied by motor disturbance , sensory 
 disturbance , perceptual disturbance , language disturbance , cognitive disorder , and urinary 
 incontinence according to the area of the brain lesions1 . the balance of stroke is an important factor 
 that can impede standing or gait , and their postural sway is twice as high as that of 
 healthy people in their age range2 . the 
 limit of stability ( los ) of stroke patients is defined as a decrease in the maximal distance 
 to the center of gravity while maintaining balance without detaching the feet from the 
 ground3 . among the rehabilitation treatment methods for stroke patients , there are many conventional treatments , such as neurodevelopmental 
 treatment and sensory stimulation , which are designed to make patients shift their weight to 
 the affected side . currently , the exercise treatment that makes patients conduct diverse 
 functions by stimulating normal exercise modes is performed in physical therapy rooms , and 
 exercise treatment programs include a range of motion exercises , extension exercises , and 
 muscle strengthening exercises4 . moreover , 
 a lot of equipment is available to improve the functions of stroke patients . in order to 
 improve the muscle strength of the lower extremities of stroke patients , weight 
 equipment5 , elastic bands6 , and isometric equipment7 have been employed . using a tilt table 
 composed of a rail system and a carriage with wheels , trees et al.8 applied a weight load exercise to four patients with burns 
 who had difficulty with weight load training in a standing position . byun et al.9 applied a rehabilitational sliding machine 
 to the treatment of patients with hemiplegia resulting from stroke and reported that their 
 muscle strength , spasticity , gait ability , balance ability , and daily activities 
 improved . therefore , many treatment methods for reduction of problematic factors and improvement of 
 balance and gait ability have been studied and developed . there are diverse methods for 
 treatment of patients with hemiplegia resulting from stroke , and although many efforts have 
 been made to improve the effect of each treatment method , research has not shown whether one 
 treatment method is superior to others10 . few studies have applied and compared treatment method using different equipment and 
 existing neurological rehabilitation exercise . therefore , it is necessary to compare the 
 effects of exercises using equipment and one - on - one therapeutic exercises in stroke patient 
 therapy . the subjects of this study were 40 patients diagnosed with hemiplegia resulting from stroke 
 by a rehabilitation doctor practicing at n hospital located in daegu , south korea . they were 
 randomly and equally assigned to a rehabilitational sliding machine training group ( stg : 10 
 males , 10 female ) and a conventional neurological physical therapy group ( cg : 11 males , 9 
 female ) . the mean  sd age , height , and weight of the stg was 51.440.6  years , 167.09.5  cm , 
 and 64.113.1  kg , respectively . the mean  sd age , height , and weight 
 of the cg was 50.85.5  years , 165.98.6  cm , and 63.95.2  kg , respectively . the inclusion criteria were as follows : no visual field defect , no abnormality in the 
 vestibular organs , no orthopedic disease , an unrestricted range of motion , ability to 
 understand and perform the exercise as instructed by the researcher , and a score of 24 or 
 higher on the korean version of the mini mental state exam ( mmse ) . all the subjects 
 understood the purpose of this study and provided written informed consent prior to their 
 participation in the study in accordance with the ethical standards of the declaration of 
 helsinki . the stg underwent training with the rehabilitational sliding machine for 30 minutes per 
 day , five times per week for eight weeks . this 
 machine had a rail system , a patient - supporting carriage , a footplate that moved up and 
 down , and a leg elevation device that was connected to the patient support carriage . the 
 footplate could be moved up and down to change the maximal angle of knee flexion . the 
 goniometer showed the degree of inclination of the sliding board , and velcro straps were 
 fixed to the patient s body and ankles for safety . the exercise 
 program for the cg was based on a training program proposed by gjelsvik4 . this method is widely used for the rehabilitation of 
 patients with hemiplegia resulting from stroke and includes a range of motion exercises , 
 muscle extension exercises , exercises for hip joint stability , leg joint exercises , knee 
 joint exercises , bridging exercises , sitting to standing exercises , weight supporting 
 exercises , and forward walking exercise in a standing position . this experiment was 
 conducted for 30 minutes , five times per week for a total of eight weeks . for the measurement of balance ability , a biofeedback analysis system ( ap1153 biorescue , rm 
 lngenierie , rodez , france ) was used to determine weight bearing , anterior range los , and 
 posterior range los in the affected side in a static standing position . after the general characteristics of the subjects were determined , a 
 paired t - test was used to compare the variations in weight bearing on the affected side when 
 standing , the anterior los standing , and the posterior los standing . the significance of 
 differences between the two groups was investigated using an independent t - test . the results for the weight bearing rates on the paretic side in each group were as follows . 
 according to analysis of the results of the weight load rate , there were significant 
 differences in each group before and after the experiment , and there were significant 
 differences within the cg after the experiment ( p>0.05 ) ( table 1table 1.comparison of change in balance function in the training groups with values 
 presented as the mean  sd ( unit : cm)stgcgpretestposttestpretestposttestwb45.91.246.21.4 * 41.32.047.01.2*al680.8186.2920.6210.11,085.62481,807258.1*pl514.9139.5592.3141.71,389.7345.01,294.0198.2**significant difference from the pretest at < 0.05 .   significant 
 difference in gains between two groups at < 0.05 . stg , sliding training group ; cg , 
 conventional neurological physical therapy group ; wb : weight bearing on the affected 
 side on standing ; al , anterior range within the limit of stability on standing ; pl , 
 posterior range within the limit of stability on standing ) . stg , sliding training group ; cg , 
 conventional neurological physical therapy group ; wb : weight bearing on the affected 
 side on standing ; al , anterior range within the limit of stability on standing ; pl , 
 posterior range within the limit of stability on standing according to a comparison of the anterior and the posterior range of stability in a 
 standing position before and after the experiment , there were significant differences in the 
 cg before and after the experiment , and there were significant differences within the cg 
 after the experiment ( p>0.05 ) ( table 1 ) . heo11 studied a group by conducting a 
 one - on - one sit - to - stand exercises focusing on external feedback , such as verbal instruction . manual contact with a therapist showed a significant increase in the weight load rate on the 
 paretic side compared with another group instructed to do sit - to - stand exercises with a 
 task - oriented approach that focused on internal feedback12 . shin et al.13 
 noted that the weight support ability of stroke patients was correlated with functional 
 performance ability , and moving the weight left or right in a standing position was related 
 to motor function , an independence in daily life , and the length of time until the patient 
 returned home . the reason for this was that the ability of the stroke patients to move 
 weight left or right was directly related to gait . in the present study on weight bearing in 
 the affected side when standing , the forward and backward movement los in a standing 
 position were compared , and the results showed a significant effect in the cg and 
 statistically significant differences between the two groups . gouglidis et al.14 applied visually induced weight movement 
 exercises to subjects and found significant differences in stability ranges . in the present 
 study , visual elements were not used , but an increase in forward and backward movement los 
 in a standing position improved the proprioceptive senses of the patients in the ankle 
 joints , increasing their balance in the forward and backward movement range . song15 reported that convenient neurological 
 physiotherapy had a greater effect than functional electrical therapy on gait ability for 
 chronic stroke patients . ma16 reported 
 that convenient neurological physiotherapy had a greater effect on the balance ability of 
 stroke patients . according to the results , conservative exercise treatment with verbal instructions from and 
 manual contact with a therapist resulted in a more significant improvement . the present 
 study showed that for functional improvement of patients with hemiplegia resulting from a 
 stroke , factors affecting conservative exercise treatment should be taken into account , such 
 as the personal characteristics , muscle strength , endurance , senses , proprioceptive senses , 
 cognition , and motives of the patients . in addition , when exercise treatment is conducted in 
 a hospital , intervention by a therapist using an instrument that allows individual stroke 
 patients to adjust their characteristic movement pattern and abnormal tension is considered 
 necessary during an exercise . a rehabilitational sliding machine can be effectively used to 
 increase the balance and gait ability of inpatients during free time and at time when they 
 are not receiving treatment time .
[ purpose ] the purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of exercise using a 
 rehabilitational sliding machine and conventional neurological physical therapy on the 
 balance of stroke patients . 
 [ subjects ] forty patients with hemiplegia resulting from 
 stroke were divided into a rehabilitational sliding machine exercise group ( st group , 
 n=20 ) and a conventional neurological physiotherapy group ( c group , n=20 ) . 
 [ methods ] the 
 stg underwent training with a rehabilitation sliding machine for 30 minutes per day , five 
 times per week for eight weeks . 
 the cg underwent training with a conventional neurological 
 physiotherapy for 30 minutes per day , five times per week for eight weeks . 
 [ results ] the 
 balance ability of both groups significantly improved . 
 although there were significant 
 differences between the groups , the cg showed weight bearing on the affected side , an 
 anterior range within the stability limits standing , and a posterior range within the 
 stability limits standing . [ conclusion ] the results of this study suggest that 
 conventional neurological physiotherapy is a more dedicated , effective intervention than 
 rehabilitational sliding training methods .