Robot-Assisted Therapy Combined with Trunk Restraint in Acute Stroke Patients: A Randomized Controlled Study

• Published in: Journal of stroke and cerebrovascular diseases 2022-05, Vol.31 (5), p.106330-106330, Article 106330
• Main Authors: Joo, Min-Cheol, Jung, Kyeoung-Man, Kim, Ji-Hee, Jung, Yu-Jin, Chang, Woo-Nam, Shin, Hyeon-Jin
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Humans; Movement; Recovery of Function; Robot therapy; Robotics; Stroke; Stroke - diagnosis; Stroke - therapy; Stroke Rehabilitation; Treatment Outcome; Trunk restraint; Upper Extremity; Upper extremity function
• ISSN: 1052-3057; 1532-8511
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jstrokecerebrovasdis.2022.106330

Reducing the compensatory mechanism by restraining unnecessary trunk movements may help enhance the effectiveness of robot-assisted therapy. This study aimed to investigate the effects of robot-assisted therapy in combination with trunk restraint on upper extremity function and on daily activities in patients with acute stroke (≤ 30days of onset). Thirty-six acute stroke patients were randomly assigned to an experimental (n=18) or control (n=18) group. The experimental group performed robot-assisted therapy combined with trunk restraint, while the control group performed only robot-assisted therapy. Both groups were treated for 30 min, 5 days a week, for a total of 3 weeks. The outcome measures included the Fugl-Meyer assessment upper extremity, wolf motor function test, motor activity log, upper extremity muscle strength, and modified Barthel index. After the intervention, both groups showed significant improvements in Fugl-Meyer assessment upper extremity, wolf motor function test, motor activity log, elbow extensor muscle strength, and modified Barthel index (p < 0.05). Post-intervention, the experimental group exhibited greater changes in the Fugl-Meyer assessment upper extremity, motor activity log, and elbow extensor muscle strength (p < 0.05). Our study suggests that robot-assisted therapy in combination with trunk restraint is more effective for improving upper extremity function than only robot-assisted therapy in acute stroke patients.