Abstract

PURPOSE
The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of aquatic exercise on rehabilitation in home stroke patients.
METHOD
A quasi-experimental pretest and posttest design was used to examine the change of balance, ADL, IADL, pain, depression and self-efficacy at the completion of 6-weeks aquatic exercise program. The subjects consisted of 25 adults who had a stroke. Thirteen experimental and twelve control subjects completed pre and post test measures. Outcome variables were balance, ADL, IADL, pain, depression and self-efficacy. Chi-Square test(Fisher's exact method) was used to examine the equality of the subjects and Wilcoxon Rank Sum Test used to examine the group difference by using SAS.
RESULTS
There was no significant difference in balance and depression between the two groups. However, there was a significant difference in ADL, IADL, pain and self-efficacy between the two groups.
CONCLUSION
Aquatic exercise can improve ADL, IADL, self-efficacy and reduce pain. Therefore, further research is recommended by increasing the length of aquatic exercise and number of subjects, so that its effects can be more generalizable.

• Keywords: Aquatic exercise; Rehabilitation; Stroke