Original articleMirror Therapy Improves Hand Function in Subacute Stroke: A Randomized Controlled Trial
Section snippets
Participants
Patients recruited in this study were referred from all over Turkey for inpatient rehabilitation. Generally, in Turkey, an estimated 50% of the stroke population is referred to a rehabilitation center if they cannot return home directly after discharge from the hospital. Two physiatrists (SS, NS) assessed potential participants to determine eligibility and to collect written informed consent. The trial included 40 inpatients with hemiparesis after stroke (mean age, 63.2y; mean time since
Results
Initial and final evaluations were made 1 to 3 days before and 1 to 3 days after the treatment period. None of the patients missed more than 1 scheduled session during the study, and all of them finished the treatment period. However, 3 patients from the mirror group and 1 patient from the control group could not come to the follow-up clinic for final evaluation because of economic reasons. We did not observe any adverse events.
Demographic and clinical characteristics of the 2 groups are
Discussion
This study shows that mirror therapy in addition to a conventional rehabilitation program was more beneficial in terms of motor recovery and hand-related functioning than a similar treatment without mirroring. The beneficial effect on hand functioning started at posttreatment and continued during the 6-month follow-up evaluation. However, we found no effect on spasticity.
Several underlying mechanisms for the effect of mirror therapy on motor recovery after stroke have been proposed. For
Conclusions
In our group of subacute stroke patients, hand function improved more after mirror therapy in addition to a conventional rehabilitation program compared with a control treatment directly after 4 weeks of treatment and at the 6-month follow-up, whereas mirror therapy does not affect spasticity.
Supplier
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