Effects of short-term upper limb robot-assisted therapy on the rehabilitation of sub-acute stroke patients.

BACKGROUND

Robot-assisted therapy (RT) has become a promising stroke rehabilitation intervention.

OBJECTIVE

To examine the effects of short-term upper limb RT on the rehabilitation of sub-acute stroke patients.

METHODS

Subjects were randomly assigned to the RT group (n= 23) or conventional rehabilitation (CR) group (n= 22). All subjects received conventional rehabilitation therapy for 30 minutes twice a day, for 2 weeks. In addition, the RT group received RT for 30 minutes twice a day, for 2 weeks. The outcomes before treatment (T0) and at 2 weeks (T1) and 1 month follow-up (T2) were evaluated in the patients using the upper limb motor function test of the Fugl-Meyer assessment (FMA) the Motricity Index (MI), the Modified Ashworth Scale (MAS), the Functional Independence Measure (FIM), and the Barthel Index (BI).

RESULTS

There were significant improvements in motor function scales (P< 0.001 for FMA and MI) and activities of daily living (P< 0.001 for FIM and BI) but without muscle tone (MAS, P> 0.05) in the RT and CR groups. Compared to the CR group, the RT group showed improvements in motor function and activities of daily living (P< 0.05 for FMA, MI, FIM, BI) at T1 and T2. There was no significant difference between the two groups in muscle tone (MAS, P> 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

RT may be a useful tool for sub-acute stroke patients' rehabilitation.