Myoelectric Arm Orthosis Assists Functional Activities: A 3-Month Home Use Outcome Report.
Sarah R Chang, Nicole Hofland, Zhengyi Chen and 5 others
PMID 37744198WHAT IT FOUND
First-time MyoPro users with chronic stroke completed grasp and transfer tasks faster and more successfully with the device than without it over three months.
Task improvement was not linear, and the study did not control for the amount of therapy each participant received.
Key findings
01Participants completed functional tasks faster with the MyoPro over three months, with mean improvements of 67.5 seconds for moving an object to mouth, 36.2 seconds for holding an object, 65.4 seconds for stabilizing an object, and 60.8 seconds for moving an object.
02Success rates for individual task components were significantly higher with the MyoPro compared to without it, except for the first component of the towel task.
03Improvement in task completion time with the MyoPro was not steady; the difference between using and not using the device fluctuated across the three-month period rather than continuously increasing.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
The study was a single-arm observational design with no control group, so it cannot determine if the observed changes were due to the device, natural recovery, or uncontrolled therapy. The sample size was small (18 analysed), and the follow-up period was short (3 months). No specific training or therapy was prescribed, meaning the amount and type of practice participants received varied and were not measured. The functional task battery used has not been validated and may not accurately represent real-world proficiency. Data collection was remote via videoconference, introducing potential variability in home setups (e.g., table and chair heights) and possible rater bias. Seven of the twenty-five enrolled participants were excluded, raising the possibility of selection bias.
Declared interests
Participants were recruited from the patient database of Myomo, Inc., the manufacturer of the MyoPro orthosis. The study design and data collection were conducted by the research team, but the reliance on the manufacturer's database for recruitment introduces a potential conflict of interest regarding the selection of first-time users.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that formal physical or occupational therapy drove these functional gains. The study explicitly states that no specific training was prescribed and that participants' progress was based on individual, self-directed use, so the contribution of professional therapy to these outcomes cannot be separated from the effect of the device itself.