Background
To establish the effect of the task-based mirror therapy (TBMT) on the upper limb
recovery in stroke.
Methods
A pilot, randomized, controlled, assessor-blinded trial was conducted in a rehabilitation
institute. A convenience sample of 33 poststroke (mean duration, 12.5 months) hemiparetic
subjects was randomized into 2 groups (experimental, 17; control, 16). The subjects
were allocated to receive either TBMT or standard motor rehabilitation—40 sessions
(5/week) for a period of 8 weeks. The TBMT group received movements using various
goal-directed tasks and a mirror box. The movements were performed by the less-affected
side superimposed on the affected side. The main outcome measures were Brunnstrom
recovery stage (BRS) and Fugl-Meyer assessment (FMA)—FMA of upper extremity (FMA-UE),
including upper arm (FMA-UA) and wrist–hand (FMA-WH).
Results
The TBMT group exhibited highly significant improvement on mean scores of FMA-WH (P < .001) and FMA-UE (P < .001) at postassessment in comparison to the control group. Furthermore, there
was a 12% increase in the number of subjects at BRS stage 5 (out of synergy movement)
in the experimental group as compared to a 0% rise at the same stage in the control
group.
Conclusions
This pilot trial confirmed the role of TBMT in improving the wrist–hand motor recovery
in poststroke hemiparesis. MT using tasks may be used as an adjunct in stroke rehabilitation.
Key Words
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: June 18, 2015
Accepted:
March 17,
2015
Received in revised form:
March 6,
2015
Received:
February 11,
2015
Footnotes
The present study was funded by Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya Institute for the Physically Handicapped, New Delhi, India.
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest regarding this article.
Identification
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jstrokecerebrovasdis.2015.03.026
Copyright
© 2015 National Stroke Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
