PURPOSE: This study was carried out to examine the changes in the trunk control ability and hand grip when the abdominal draw-in maneuver using breathing was applied to stroke patients, and provide basic data regarding the trunk stabilization exercise.
METHOD: After randomly placing patients in group Ⅰ -applying the existing abdominal draw-in exercise and group Ⅱ -applying the abdominal draw-in exercise using breathing, the intervention program was performed ten times per set (five sets per session), once a day, four times a week, for a total of four weeks. For the pre-tests before the intervention, trunk damage and hand grip were measured. After the four weeks of intervention, post-tests were conducted in the same way as the pre-tests for analyzing the study results.
RESULTS: Both groups had significant differences in trunk control ability and hand grip (p < .05). The comparison between the two groups showed, significant differences only in the trunk control a ability(p < .05).
CONCLUSION: The abdominal draw-in exercise using breathing led to the efficient contraction of abdominal muscles, which implies this is a more effective intervention to improve the trunk control ability.