Upper-Extremity Functional Electric Stimulation-Assisted Exercises on a Workstation in the Subacute Phase of Stroke Recovery
By Kowalczewski, Jan; Gritsenko, Valeriya, PhD; Ashworth, Nigel, MD; Ellaway, Peter, PhD; Prochazka, Arthur, PhD; Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Vol. 88, No. 7, pp. 833-839Publication Date: July 2007
Study of functional electric stimulation-assisted exercise therapy (FES-ET) in the subacute phase of recovery from a stroke. Participants were 19 stroke survivors whose stroke occurred within 3 months of trial onset and resulted in severe upper-limb dysfunction. An FES stimulator and exercise workstation with instrumented objects were used by 2 groups. Ten subjects in the high-intensity group received FES-ET for 1 hour a day on 15 to 20 consecutive workdays. Nine subjects in the low-intensity group received 15 minutes of sensory electric stimulation 4 days a week and on the fifth day they received 1 hour of FES-ET. Primary outcome measures included the Wolf Motor Function Test (WMFT). Secondary outcome measures included the Motor Activity Log (MAL), the upper-extremity portion of the Fugl-Meyer Assessment (FMA), and the combined kinematic score (CKS) derived from workstation measurements. Results showed significantly greater improvements in the WMFT and CKS in the high-intensity group than the low-intensity group. Subjects performing high-intensity FES-ET showed significantly greater improvements on the WMFT than those performing low-intensity FES-ET. The CKS data suggest that high-intensity FES-ET may be advantageous in neuroprosthetic applications.
Published by: W.B. Saunders Company, a division of Elsevier Health Sciences (Website:http://us.elsevierhealth.com)
American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (Web Site: http://www.aapmr.org/ )
American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine (Web Site: http://www.acrm.org )
