THE IMPROVEMENT OF VISUAL-SPATIAL PERFORMANCE AFTER GOLF TRAINING IN PATIENTS WITH STROKE: A PILOT STUDY

Authors

Petra JANSEN* & Tobias SCHACHTEN

Institute of Sport Science, University of Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany

ABSTRACT

The present study examined the influence of golf training on chronic stroke patients’ visual-spatial abilities and memory, balance, and emotional wellbeing. Recruited patients (between 1 and 18 years after the stroke) were assigned to either a golf training group (experimental group, EG) or to a social communication meeting group (control group). The golf training group was further separated regarding the time of the stroke, less than 5 years ago (EG1) vs. equal to or more than 5 years ago (EG 2). Experimental and control groups participated in activities once or twice a week for a total of one and a half to two hours, for a period of ten weeks. All participants completed a visual-spatial memory test, a mental rotation test, a balance scale, and an emotional wellbeing questionnaire before and after the intervention period. The main results indicated that stroke patients who received regular golf training (i.e., a training which was not specifically tailored to the patient group) showed a significant improvement in the mental rotation performance compared to the control group. There was no difference in the results between EG1 and EG2, hence there was no effect of the time of stroke. Findings indicate that golf training can improve visual imagery ability in stroke patients, even late after stroke.

KEYWORDS: stroke, golf training, rehabilitation, visual-spatial cognition, memory

PAGES:159-169

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