OBJECTIVE: To examine whether robotic therapy can reduce motor impairment and enhance recovery of the hemiparetic arm in persons with chronic stroke. DESIGN: Pre-posttest design. SETTING: Rehabilitation hospital, outpatient care. PARTICIPANTS: Volunteer sample of 20 persons diagnosed with a single, unilateral stroke within the past 1 to 5 years, with persistent hemiparesis. INTERVENTIONS: Robotic therapy was provided 3 times weekly for 6 weeks. Subjects able to reach robot targets were randomly assigned to sensorimotor or progressive-resistive robotic therapy groups. Robotic therapy consisted of goal-directed, planar reaching tasks to exercise the hemiparetic shoulder and elbow. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The Modified Ashworth Scale, Fugl-Meyer test of upper-extremity function, Motor Status Scale (MSS) score, and Medical Research Council motor power score. RESULTS: Evaluations by a single blinded therapist revealed statistically significant gains from admission to discharge (p < 0.05) on the Fugl-Meyer test, MSS score, and motor power score. Secondary analyses revealed group differences: the progressive-resistive therapy group experienced nonspecific improvements on wrist and hand MSS scores that were not observed in the sensorimotor group. CONCLUSIONS: Robotic therapy may complement other treatment approaches by reducing motor impairment in persons with moderate to severe chronic impairments.

Full text (sometimes free) may be available at these link(s):      help

• DOI
• PubMed
• PDF locator
• publisher