The effects of different constraint-induced movement therapies on poststroke upper extremity function recovery

Approximately 43% to 69% of people suffering from a stroke have upper extremity impairment, and 4 years after a stroke, 67% still experience non-use of the affected arm as a major problem. One of the most popular treatment methods is constraint-induced movement therapy, when forced and prolonged using of the affected arm by restricting the non-affected arm or trunk. Aim of the study: To estimate, which constraint-induced movement therapy method is more effective for the affected arm recovery after stroke – the Trunk restraint method or the Non-affected arm restricting method. Research methods: The research was done at the LSMU hospital Kaunas clinics Neurology department and at PI „Privati slaugos tarnyba“ nursing home. Twenty four individuals with stroke of age 55 – 75 were enrolled. Participants were randomly assigned to either the Non-affected arm restricting (n=12) or the Trunk restraint (n=12) group. The Non-affected arm restricting group participants for 2 weeks, 5 days a week and for 2 hours a day were applied non-affected arm restrict. For the movement restriction was used glove, which restricted the non-affected arm movement. For affected arm was applied task-specific exercise. Participants of the Trunk restraint group were seated with trunk motion restrained by a chest harness for 2 weeks, 5 days a week and for 45 – 60 minutes per day. For affected arm also was applied task-specific exercise. For research it was used: measurement of muscles strength (hand, forearm extension and flexion, shoulder flexion, extension, abduction and adduction) and functional arm movements (Action research arm test, Wolf-Motor test). Results and conclusions: After the Trunk restraint method participants in this group showed significant differences (p0,05) between the groups were found