Motor relearning program along with electrical stimulation for improving upper limb function in stroke patients: A quasi experimental study

Objective: To determine the effectiveness of motor relearning program along with electrical stimulation for improving upper limb function in patients with sub-acute stroke.

Methods: A quasi experimental study was conducted at Physiotherapy Department of SAIDU Group of Teaching Hospitals Swat Khyber Pakhtunkhwa from January to June 2019. Forty four subjects with post stroke duration of 3-9 months (sub-acute) participated in the study. Subjects received electrical stimulations for the effected arm for 15 minutes along with motor relearning programme for an hour five days a week for six weeks. The upper limb sub scales of motor assessment scale were used to collect pre and post treatment data. SPSS version 20 was used to analyze the data.

Results: The mean age of the participants was 54.95±13.2 years. Out of 44 participants 31(70.5%) were male and 13 (29.5%) were female. Pretreatment upper arm function, hand movement and advance hand activities scores were 1.36±0.49, 1.18±0.39 and 1.04±0.21 respectively while their post treatment scores were 5.18±0.96, 4.77±1.02 and 3.95±1.21 respectively. There was significant differences (P<0.05) between pre and post treatment scores of upper arm function, hand movement and advance hand activities.

Conclusion: Motor relearning program along with electrical stimulation significantly improves upper limb function in patients with sub-acute stroke.