| Objective: To investigate the correlation between balance function and executive functions in patients with post-stroke cognitive impairment (PSCI), providing new insights for addressing balance dysfunction in clinical rehabilitation. Methods: This cross-sectional study enrolled 50 PSCI patients. Balance function was assessed using the Berg Balance Scale (BBS) and center-of-pressure sway path (SP) under eyes-open and eyes-closed conditions via three-dimensional sacral marker methodology. Executive functions were evaluated using the Trail Making Test-A (TMT-A), 2-back task, and Stroop color-word test. Spearman correlation analysis and multiple linear regression were employed to examine their relationships. Results: Correlation analysis demonstrated that TMT-A showed significant negative correlation with BBS scores (P<0.01), while positive correlations with both eyes-open SP and eyes-closed SP (both P<0.01). The accuracy rate of the 2-back task was negatively correlated with eyes-open SP (P<0.05). Stroop congruent task accuracy showed negative correlations with both eyes-open and eyes-closed SP (both P<0.05). Congruent reaction time was negatively correlated with BBS scores (P<0.05) and positively correlated with eyes-closed SP (P<0.05). Incongruent task accuracy showed positive correlation only with BBS scores (P<0.05). Incongruent reaction time was negatively correlated with BBS scores (P<0.01) and positively correlated with both eyes-open and eyes-closed SP (P<0.05,P<0.01). Multiple linear regression analysis revealed that TMT-A was independently associated with BBS scores (P<0.05), with the model explaining 17.9% of the variance (R2＝0.279，adjusted R2=0.179). Conclusion: Balance function in PSCI patients is significantly associated with executive functions, particularly task-switching ability, which substantially influences balance performance. Clinical rehabilitation should emphasize the assessment of executive functions and incorporate integrated balance training with exe-cutive function interventions to improve balance ability and reduce fall risk. |
