Title of article :
Effects of Training for Finger Perception on Functional Recovery of Hemiplegic Upper Limbs in Acute Stroke Patients
Author/Authors :
Higashijima, Misako Department of Physical and Occupational Therapy - Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences - Nagasaki University - Sakamoto - Nagasaki 852-8520, Japan , Umeki, Naho Department of Physical and Occupational Therapy - Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences - Nagasaki University - Sakamoto - Nagasaki 852-8520, Japan , Murata , Jun Department of Physical and Occupational Therapy - Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences - Nagasaki University - Sakamoto - Nagasaki 852-8520, Japan
Abstract :
Strokecausesseveredisability,includingmotorandsensoryimpairments.Wehypothesizedthatupperlimb
functionalrecoveryafterstrokemaybeaugmentedbycombiningtreatmentsformotorandsensoryfunctions.Inorderto
examinethishypothesis,weconductedacontrolledtrialonrehabilitationforsensoryfunctiontotheplegichand.Methods. The
sensorytrainingprogramconsistedofseveraltypesofdiscriminationtasksperformedunderblindconditions.Thesensory
trainingprogramwasperformedfor20minperday,5daysaweek.Anexperimentalgroupof31patientsfollowedthissensory
program,whileacontrolgroupof25patientsunderwentstandardrehabilitation.Theefficacyoftheinterventionwasevaluated
bythetactile-pressurethreshold,handgripstrength,andthecompletiontimeofmanipulatingobjects.Atwo-wayrepeated
measuresanalysisofvariancewasusedtoassessinteractionsbetweengroupandtime.Moreover,toprovideameaningful
analysisforcomparisons,effectsizeswerecalculatedusingCohen’sd.Results. Themeanchangeinthetactilepressurethreshold
wassignificantlylargerintheexperimentalgroupthaninthecontrolgroup(p<0:05,d=0:59).Moreover,thecompletiontimes
tomanipulateamiddle-sizedball(d=0:53)andsmallball(d=0:80)andasmallmetaldisc(d=0:81)intheexperimental
groupweresignificantlydifferentfromthoseinthecontrolgroup(p<0:05).Conclusion. Thepresentresultssuggestthatthe
sensorytrainingprogramtoenhancefingerdiscriminationabilitycontributestoimprovementsinnotonlysensoryfunctionbut
alsomanualfunctioninstrokepatients.ThetrialisregisteredwiththeUMINClinicalTrialsRegistry(UMIN000032025).
Keywords :
Effects of Training , Finger Perception , Functional Recovery , Hemiplegic Upper Limbs , Acute Stroke Patients
Journal title :
Occupational Therapy International