| Title | Exercises for paretic upper limb after stroke: A combined virtual-reality and telemedicine approach. | | Author(s) | Piron L, Turolla A, Agostini M, Zucconi C, Cortese F, Zampolini M, Zannini M, Dam M, Ventura L, Battauz M, Tonin P | | Institution | Via Alberoni, 70, IT-30126 Venezia, Italy. E-mail: pironl@tin.it. | | Source | J Rehabil Med 2009 Nov; 41(12):1016-102. | | Abstract | OBJECTIVE: Telerehabilitation enables a remotely controlled programme to be used to treat motor deficits in post-stroke patients. The effects of this telerehabilitation approach were compared with traditional motor rehabilitation methods.
DESIGN: Randomized single-blind controlled trial.
PATIENTS: A total of 36 patients with mild arm motor impairments due to ischaemic stroke in the region of the middle cerebral artery.
METHODS: The experimental treatment was a virtual reality-based system delivered via the Internet, which provided motor tasks to the patients from a remote rehabilitation facility. The control group underwent traditional physical therapy for the upper limb. Both treatments were of 4 weeks duration. All patients were assessed one month prior to therapy, at the commencement and termination of therapies and one month post-therapy, with the Fugl-Meyer Upper Extremity, the ABILHAND and the Ashworth scales.
RESULTS: Both rehabilitative therapies significantly improved all outcome scores after treatment, but only the Fugl-Meyer Upper Extremity scale showed differences in the comparison between groups.
CONCLUSION: Both strategies were effective, but the experimental approach induced better outcomes in motor performance. These results may favour early discharge from hospital sustained by a telerehabilitation programme, with potential beneficial effects on the use of available resources. | | Language | eng | | Pub Type(s) | Journal Article
| | PubMed ID | 19841835 |
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