Effectiveness of constraint-induced movement therapy in chronic stroke patients
Suputtitada, A.; Suwanwela, N.C.; Tumvitee, S.
Journal of the Medical Association of Thailand 87(12): 1482-1490
2004
ISSN/ISBN: 0125-2208 PMID: 15822545 Document Number: 8794
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of constraint-induced movement therapy (CIMT) in dexterity with Action Research Arm Test (ARA test), hand grip strength, pinch strength of affected upper extremity in chronic stroke patients. An observer-blinded randomized control trial, 69 chronic stroke patients were allocated either to constraint-induced movement technique (n = 33) or conservative treatment (n = 36). The CIMT group received 6 hours of daily affected-upper-extremity training and restrained unaffected upper extremities for 5 days per week, totally 2 weeks. The control group received bimanual-upper-extremity training by conservative neurodevelopmental technique without restrained unaffected upper extremities for 2 weeks. The CIMT group had ARA scores, pinch strength of affected upper extremities statistically significant higher than the control group at p < 0.05, but the hand grip strength had no statistically significant difference, p > 0.05. CIMT of unaffected upper extremities has an advantage for chronic stroke patients which may be an efficacious technique of improving motor activity and exhibiting learned nonuse.
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