Kronik Felçli Hastalarda Paretik Üst Ekstremite Motor Fonksiyonları Üzerinde Elektromiyografi ile Tetiklenen Elektrik Stimülasyonu Eşliğinde Mental Aktivite Eğitiminin Etkileri: Pilot Çalışma

Objective: To study whether mental activity training linked with electromyogramtriggered electrical stimulation (MATEMG) improves motor function of a paretic upper extremity in chronic stroke patients.Materials and Methods: Eighteen patients with chronic stroke for more than 12 months were included in the study. Nine patients were randomly allocated to MATEMG and 9 to generalized functional electrical stimulation (FES) on the forearm extensor muscles of the paretic extremity 20 times over 4 weeks, for 40 minutes/session. Outcome measures were: active range of motion (ROM) of the wrist joint, strength of the forearm extensor muscles, the modified Ashworth scale (MAS), FuglMeyer motor assessment for the upper extremity (FMMUE), motor activity log (MAL) and the modified Barthel index (MBI) scores.Results: The group receiving MATEMG improved by 6.13 points in FMMUE scores (p<0.05), and the group receiving FES improved by 1.13 points, after intervention. There was a significant difference in FMMUE scores between the two groups. This was caused by the noticeable increase in the FMMUE wrist and shoulder scales in the MATEMG group. However, nosignificant difference was observed in other measures between the groups.Conclusion: We found that MATEMG had a greater effect than FES on recovery of motor function in the paretic extremities of chronic stroke patients. Turk J Phys Med Rehab 2013;59:1339