Article

PURPOSE: To evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of adding object-related
bilateral symmetrical training to mirror therapy (MT) to improve upper limb (UL)
activity in chronic stroke patients. METHOD: Sixteen patients with moderate UL
impairment were randomly allocated to either the experimental (EG) or control
(CG) group. Both groups performed 1 hour sessions,
3 days/week for 4 weeks,
involving object-related bilateral symmetrical training.
EG performed the tasks
observing their nonparetic UL reflected in the mirror, while CG observed the
paretic UL directly. The primary outcome measure was unilateral and bilateral UL
activity according to the Test d'Evaluation des Membres Superieurs de Personnes
Agees (TEMPA). All measurements were taken at baseline, post-training, and
follow-up (2 weeks). RESULTS: TEMPA total score showed the main effect of time.
Significant improvement was found for bilateral but not unilateral tasks. Both
groups showed gains after training, with no differences between them.
CONCLUSIONS: This study showed the feasibility of adding object-related bilateral
training to MT. Both types of training improved UL bilateral activity; however, a
larger sample is required for a definitive study. Other studies need to be
carried out to evaluate the effectiveness of combining more distal-oriented
movements and object-related unilateral training to improve these effects in
chronic stroke patients.
- Thérapie en miroir

Langue : ANGLAIS