Effect of sensorimotor stimulation on chronic stroke patients' upper extremity function: a preliminary study.
Eun-Ji Go, Sang-Heon Lee
PMID 28174449WHAT IT FOUND
Two female and one male chronic stroke patients showed increased Box and Block and 10-second hand-test scores after 12 sessions combining passive mobilization, vibration, and proprioceptive training, while also receiving conventional rehabilitation.
The contribution of any single component cannot be separated.
Key findings
01Box and Block mean scores increased for participants A, B, and C on both affected and non-affected sides.
0210-second test mean scores increased for participants A, B, and C in FIMT, HPST, and FTT.
03The reported increases occurred after 12 sessions combining passive mobilization, vibration, and proprioceptive training, while participants also received conventional rehabilitation, so the contribution of any single component cannot be separated.
STILL TO COME
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What it does not show
Only two females and one male chronic stroke patients were included. The design was an A-B single subject experiment with baseline and treatment phases, and the paper used descriptive analysis rather than statistical tests. Participants also received conventional rehabilitation therapy for one hour at a rehabilitation center, so the added program's contribution cannot be separated. The paper did not evaluate long-term effects. Participants had intact sensory functions, MMSE-K scores more than 26, and manual muscle test scores more than fair for the affected shoulder and elbow, so it says little about patients with more severe sensory, cognitive, or motor impairment.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the score increases as proof that sensorimotor stimulation alone worked. The participants also received conventional rehabilitation, and the program combined passive mobilization, vibration, and proprioceptive training, so the contribution of any single component cannot be separated.