Article

OBJECTIVE: To determine retention of upper extremity (UE) motor changes 3 months
after participation in a regimen in which subjects with moderate UE hemiparesis
engaged in repetitive task-specific training using an electrical stimulation
neuroprosthesis (ESN). DESIGN: Prospective, blinded, cohort, pre-post study.
SETTING: Outpatient rehabilitation hospital. PARTICIPANTS: Individuals (N=24) in
the chronic stage of stroke exhibiting stable UE hemiparesis (11 men; mean age,
57.9+/-9.5y; age range, 39-75y; mean time since stroke at time of repetitive
task-specific practice [RTP] using ESN intervention start, 36.7mo; range of
onset, 7-162mo). INTERVENTION: As part of a larger trial, subjects had been
randomly assigned to receive an 8-week regimen comprised of RTP on valued
activities using the ESN. This observational study assessed this single group's
paretic UE motor levels immediately after, and 3 months after, the intervention.
MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The Fugl-Meyer (FM) assessment of sensorimotor impairment,
the Action Research Arm Test (ARAT), the Arm Motor Ability Test (AMAT), and the
Box and Block Test (BBT). RESULTS: None of the scores significantly changed from
the period directly after intervention to the test 3-months follow-up (FM:
t=1.64; ARAT: t=2.17; AMAT: t=.76, .92, and 1.01 for the functional ability,
quality of movement, and time scales, respectively; BBT: t=.36; adjusted t
critical value to reject the null [t(crit)]=2.90, 2-tailed alpha=.008 to preserve
experiment-wise error rate of .05). CONCLUSIONS: Subjects exhibited no changes in
the various functional tests, indicating that changes in paretic UE movement
realized through RTP using ESN appear to be retained 3 months after the
intervention has concluded. This was the first study to our knowledge to examine
the longer-term effects of RTP using an ESN in any population.
CI - Copyright (c) 2012 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Published by
Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Langue : ANGLAIS