Article

This study examined whether weighting the forearm during feeding decreased tremors and increased functional feeding in adults with intention tremor caused by static brain lesions. METHOD: Five individuals with various diagnoses, ages 30-81, were videotaped during 8 or 16 meal sessions, alternating treatment and control conditions within each meal. In this single-case design, treatment consisted of application of a weighted fabric wrist cuff and the baseline (control) condition employed an identical cuff with the weights removed. Dependent variables studied were time to acquire and deliver a bite, grams of food eaten, number of times food was spilled, number of times a compensatory technique was used, participant self-rating, and investigator rating of the severity of the tremor. RESULTS: All five participants demonstrated improvement during treatment in one or more of the dependent variables. t Tests of the means of baseline and treatment half-sessions incorporating conservative control of Type I error revealed the following statistically significant improvements under the weighted condition: Participants 3, 4, and 5 took less time to acquire a bite; Participants 4 and 5 made fewer spills; Participants 3 and 5 showed a diminished tremor. There were no statistically significant decreases in function on any variable for any participants during the weighted condition. CONCLUSION: The application of weight to the wrist of a person with upper-extremity tremor is accompanied by some functional improvement in self-feeding for some individuals. The size of benefit seems to be sensitive to the amount of weight used.

Langue : ANGLAIS

Identifiant basis : 2003228116