The effect of motor imagery therapy on walking ability in patients with post-stroke hemiplegia

Abstract

Objective To study the effect of motor imagery therapy combined with conventional rehabilitation treatment on walking ability in patients with post-stroke hemiplegia.Methods Eighty patients with post-stroke hemiplegia were randomly divided into a treatment group (40 cases) and a control group (40 cases).All the patients in both groups were given basic medication and conventional rehabilitation treatment.In addition,the patients in treatment group were given motor imagery therapy.The 10 m maximum walking speed (10 m MWS),stride length,cadence,Fugl-Meyer motor assessment (lower limb) (FMA-L) and Holden's functional ambulation classification (FAC) were used to evaluate walking ability before the beginning of training and at the end of six weeks of training.Results Before intervention there was no significant difference between the two groups in terms of all the assessment (P ＞0.05).At the end of training,all measurements in both groups [the treatment group:10 m MWS (0.53 ± 0.20)m/s,stride length (78.91 ± 20.46) cm,cadence (78.10 ± 12.03) min,FMA-L (24.13 ±5.77),FAC (3.60±1.01);the control group:10 m M WS (0.42 ±0.15)m/s,stride length (69.75 ± 18.31)cm,cadence (71.14±9.29)/min,FMA-L (20.65 ±4.70),FAC (2.93 ±0.89)] were significantly better than those before training (P ＜ 0.05),and the improvements in treatment group were significantly better than those in control group (P ＜ 0.05).Conclusion Motor imagery therapy combined with conventional rehabilitation treatment can distinctly improve the walking ability in patients with post-stroke hemiplegia. Key words: Motor imagery therapy; Stroke; Walking ability