Effect of 4 Weeks of Scapular Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation on Scapular Alignment and Upper Extremity Motor Performance in Patients with Stroke: A Repeated Measure Design

Abstract

Context: Stroke is the major cause for the impairments in adults, typically accompanying loss of motor function which leads to reduce the upper limb function and disturbance in scapular alignment. Aim: To study the effect of 4 weeks of Scapular Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation on scapular alignment and upper extremity motor performance in patients with Stroke at the intervals of 2 weeks and 4 weeks. Settings and Design: This Repeated Measure Design study conducted in physiotherapy OPD and IPD. Methods and Material: After getting the approval from the ethical committee of college, 27 participants diagnosed with stroke were screened according inclusion and exclusion criteria. Written consent were taken from the participants parents and the procedure of the study was explained to the patient. Subjects were assessed using Lateral Scapular Slide Test, Palpation Meter and Fugl Meyer Motor assessment at baseline, 2 weeks and then 4 weeks after the treatment. Scapular Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation was given in two diagonals with 20 repetitions. Statistical Analysis Used: The analysis was done using GraphPad Instat 3. For analysing the comparison between Baseline, 2 weeks and 4 weeks, the Repeated Measure ANOVA along with posthoc test was used. Results: At the end of 4 weeks, Scapular alignment and upper extremity motor performance shows significant improvement (p < 0.05). Conclusions: This study concludes that 4 weeks of Scapular Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation Technique is effective intervention in improving scapular alignment and upper extremity motor performance in patients with stroke, with major improvement occurring in first 2 weeks. Hence, scapular PNF should be included in acute stage of stroke.