Article

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of combination cathodal transcranial direct
current stimulation (tDCS) and virtual reality (VR) therapy for upper extremity
(UE) training in patients with subacute stroke. DESIGN: Pilot randomized
controlled trial. Patients were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 groups: group A
received cathodal tDCS, group B received VR, and group C received combination
therapy (cathodal tDCS was simultaneously applied during VR therapy). SETTING:
University hospital. PARTICIPANTS: Patients (N=59) with impaired unilateral UE
motor function after stroke. INTERVENTION: Fifteen sessions of treatment over a
3-week period. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The Modified Ashworth Scale, manual muscle
test (MMT), Manual Function Test (MFT), Fugl-Meyer Scale (FMS), and Box and Block
Test were used to assess UE function. To evaluate activities of daily living, the
Korean-Modified Barthel Index (K-MBI) was used. All outcomes were measured before
and immediately after treatment. RESULTS: After treatment, all groups
demonstrated significant improvements in MMT, MFT, FMS, and K-MBI scores. The
change in MFT and FMS scores was different between the 3 groups. Post hoc
analysis revealed that the improvement of MFT and FMS scores in group C was
significantly higher than those of the other 2 groups. CONCLUSIONS: In the
present pilot study, the combination of brain stimulation using tDCS and
peripheral arm training using VR could facilitate a stronger beneficial effect on
UE impairment than using each intervention alone. This combination therapy might
be a helpful method to enhance recovery of the paretic UE in patients with
stroke.
CI - Copyright (c) 2014 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Published by
Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Langue : ANGLAIS