This Article Full Text (OnlineFirst PDF) All Versions of this Article: 0269215508099861v1 23/5/418    most recent Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Brogårdh, C. Articles by Lexell, J. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Brogårdh, C. Articles by Lexell, J. Pubmed/NCBI databases Medline Plus Health Information Stroke Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

What is the long-term benefit of constraint-induced movement therapy? A four-year follow-up

¹ Department of Rehabilitation, Lund University Hospital and Division of Rehabilitation Medicine, Department of Clinical Sciences, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
² Department of Rehabilitation and Division of Rehabilitation Medicine, Department of Clinical Sciences, Lund University, Lund, Sweden

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: christina.brogardh{at}skane.se.

	Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the long-term benefits of constraint-induced movement therapy in chronic stroke.

Design: A four-year follow-up after constraint-induced group therapy assessing arm and hand function and self-reported daily hand use.

Subjects: Fourteen post-stroke individuals (six women and eight men; mean age 59.6 ± 12.7 years, range 23–75 years) with mild to moderate impairments of hand function.

Outcome measures: The Sollerman hand function test and the Motor Activity Log test.

Results: Four years after constraint-induced group therapy the participants had maintained their hand function, as measured by the Sollerman hand function test. The self-reported use and quality of movements of the more affected hand, as measured by the Motor Activity Log test, had decreased compared to post-treatment and three months follow-up (P < 0.01), but was still significantly higher than pre-treatment (P < 0.05).

Conclusion: There seems to be a long-term benefit of constraint-induced group therapy. Hand function was maintained over time and daily hand use had increased compared to pre-treatment. To provide guidelines about the clinical use of constraint-induced movement therapy further, larger and controlled studies are needed.

First published on April 6, 2009, doi:10.1177/0269215508099861

Clinical Rehabilitation 2009;23:418.

A more recent version of this article appeared on May 1, 2009


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?