Article

The practicality and patient compliance of constraint-induced movement therapy
limit its application in many clinical environments. For more than a decade, the
principal investigator's laboratory has shown efficacy of an outpatient, modified
constraint-induced therapy (mCIT). The current study examined whether
participants administered mCIT retained motor changes 3 mo after intervention.
The upper-extremity section of the Fugl-Meyer Impairment Scale (FM) and the
Action Research Arm Test (ARA) were administered directly after mCIT
intervention. Thirteen patients poststroke were tracked prospectively from
directly after intervention concluded to 3 mo after intervention, at which time
the FM and ARA were readministered. Three months after intervention, 25 of the 26
scores on the FM and ARA increased between the time after intervention and 3
months after intervention, reflecting continued increases in affected extremity
movement ability. It is believed that the continued motor changes were caused by
the comparatively larger number of extremity-use opportunities during the 10-wk
mCIT intervention period. These opportunities encourage habitual extremity use
even after the intervention period has concluded, leading to the changes
observed.

Langue : ANGLAIS