Iranian Journal of War and Public Health

Background & Purpose: Amputation is one of the major causes of durable disability. One of complications of amputation is impairment in balance performances. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effects of eight weeks aquatic exercise on static balance in veterans with unilateral lower limb amputation.

Materials and methods: Nineteen veterans men with lower limb amputation randomly divided in control (n=10) and experimental (n=9) groups. The static balance between two groups was measuring by the stability platform device. Then experimental group performed eight weeks aquatic exercises in a pool, while the control group was doing only their daily activities. After eight weeks the static balance in both groups was measured again. The data were analyzed statistically using the student’s t-test for comparisons between and within the groups before and after the intervention.

Results: Results showed that difference between pre-test and post-test scores was statistically significant in experimental group, while the difference not observed in the control group. Also, between the post test scores of the experimental and control groups, there are significant differences, but between the pre-test scores, no observed significant difference.

Conclusion: It can be concluded that aquatic exercise can improve the static balance of veterans with unilateral lower limb amputation. Therefore, this type of exercise can be used in the training and rehabilitation of this group of people.