Abstract : This research aims to examine the effects of whole body vibration exercise in a sitting position
on chronic CVA patients’ upper extreme function and activity of daily living before they go
through occupational therapy.
Method : This research applied a whole body vibration exercise in a sitting position on 28 chronic
CVA patients for 10 minutes before conducting occupational therapy. After, In order to
compare the changes in upper extreme function and activity of daily living between the
research groups of 14 patients, who were carried out a general occupational therapy for 20
minutes, and a control group of 14 patients that had 30 minutes of general occupational
therapy, the before and after of the research and control groups’ upper extreme function
(MFT) and activity of daily living (MBI) were statistically analyzed using SSPSS (ver.18.0).
Result : For the research group of chronic CVA patients that had a whole body vibration exercise in a
sitting position before occupational therapy, their score on upper extreme function increased from
14.14±8.59 before the experiment to 14.50±8.72 after the experiment, showing a statistically
significant difference. Also, the research group had an increased score on activity of daily living
from 65.43±19.85 before the experiment to 67.07±19.71 after the experiment, proving that it had
a statistically significant difference (p<0.05).
Discussion and Conclusion : The whole body vibration exercise in a sitting position before occupational therapy
have been proved to have a positive effect in enhancing chronic CVA patients’ upper extreme
function and activity of daily living. Thus, whole body vibration exercise in a sitting position
before occupational therapy can be applied as an effective treatment method as a warm-up
exercise.