Home-based nerve stimulation to enhance effects of motor training in patients in the chronic phase after stroke: A proof-of-principle study

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Home-based nerve stimulation to enhance effects of motor training in patients in the chronic phase after stroke: A proof-of-principle study

Neurorehabilitation and Neural Repair , Volume 27(6) , Pgs. 483-490.

NARIC Accession Number: J67070.  What's this?
ISSN: 1545-9683.
Author(s): dos Santos-Fontes, Renata L.; de Andrade, Karina N. F.; Sterr, Annette; Conforto, Adriana B..
Publication Year: 2013.
Number of Pages: 8.
Abstract: Study investigated the feasibility and safety of home-based repetitive peripheral nerve sensory stimulation (RPSS) combined with motor training and collected preliminary data on the efficacy of this program to enhance hand motor function in patients with chronic stroke. Twenty patients were randomized to either active or sham RPSS associated with daily motor training performed at home over 4 consecutive weeks. All the patients were able to perform tasks of the Jebsen-Taylor Test (JTT). The primary outcome measures were feasibility, evaluated by self-reported compliance with the intervention, and safety (adverse events). Secondary outcomes comprised improvements in hand function in the JTT after end of treatment and after a 4-month follow-up period. There were no relevant adverse events. Compliance with RPSS and motor training was significantly greater in the active group than in the sham group. Upper-extremity performance improved significantly more in the active group compared with the sham group at the end of treatment. This difference remained significant 4 months later, even when differences in compliance with motor training were considered. The results of this study indicated that home-based active RPSS associated with motor training was safe and feasible, and led to long-lasting enhancement of paretic arm performance in the chronic phase after stroke for those who can perform the JTT.
Descriptor Terms: ELECTRICAL STIMULATION, FEASIBILITY STUDIES, HEMIPLEGIA, HOME BASED, MOTOR SKILLS, NERVOUS SYSTEM, PHYSICAL THERAPY, SAFETY, STROKE.

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