Abstract
Objective:To determine the effectiveness of motor relearning program along with electrical stimulation for improving upper limb function in patients with sub-acute stroke.Methods:A quasi experimental study was conducted at Physiotherapy Department of SAIDU Group of Teaching Hospitals Swat Khyber Pakhtunkhwa from January to June 2019. Forty four subjects with post stroke duration of 3-9 months (sub-acute) participated in the study. Subjects received electrical stimulations for the effected arm for 15 minutes along with motor relearning programme for an hour five days a week for six weeks. The upper limb sub scales of motor assessment scale were used to collect pre and post treatment data. SPSS version 20 was used to analyze the data.Results:The mean age of the participants was 54.95±13.2 years. Out of 44 participants 31(70.5%) were male and 13 (29.5%) were female. Pretreatment upper arm function, hand movement and advance hand activities scores were 1.36 ± 0.49, 1.18 ± 0.39 and 1.04 ± 0.21 respectively while their post treatment scores were 5.18 ± 0.96, 4.77 ± 1.02 and 3.95 ± 1.21 respectively. There was significant differences (P<0.05) between pre and post treatment scores of upper arm function, hand movement and advance hand activities.Conclusion:Motor relearning program along with electrical stimulation significantly improves upper limb function in patients with sub-acute stroke.
Highlights
Following coronary heart disease and cancer, stroke is the third most common cause of death throughout the world.[1]
Upper limb impairments are common in stroke patients and rehabilitation specialists always give more focus to upper extremity movements because they are necessary for performing almost all activities of daily living.[13,14]
Without good upper limb function, stroke patients remain dependent for the rest of their lives and they never ever function as productive members of the society.[15]
Summary
Following coronary heart disease and cancer, stroke (cerebrovascular accident) is the third most common cause of death throughout the world.[1] About 5.5 million people died because of stroke, and about 20% of these deaths occur in South Asia. The most disabling condition that confines independent life of stroke patients is the upper limb motor impairment. About 85% patients has motor impairments in affected upper limb with. Pak J Med Sci November - December 2020 Vol 36 No 7 www.pjms.org.pk 1613 first episode of stroke and this upper extremity motor deficit remain in 55 to75% patients even after six months of stroke. Full recovery of arm weakness occurs only in 5-20% of patients.[4,5] Due to weakness of arm, stroke patients have difficulty in reaching, grasping and manipulation of objects, which causes difficulty in performing activities of daily living. Majority of stroke patients consider upper limb weakness the major problem and this is related with a decrease level of subjective wellbeing.[4,5,6]
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