Effects of Robot Assisted Therapy As an Adjunct to Conventional Therapy in Upper Limb Motor Recovery after Stroke

The recovery of upper extremity (UE) function after stroke is slower and less complete than return of mobility. Neuroplasticity is the key mechanism underlying improvement in functional outcome after stroke. Robotic devices can stimulate neuroplasticity by providing high-intensity, repetitive, task-specific training. Aim of this prospective randomized controlled study was to evaluate the efficacy of Robot-assisted therapy as an adjunct to conventional rehabilitation program in management of UE weakness in stroke patients in terms of motor recovery & functional outcome. Sixty four patients, having stroke duration less than two years, included in the study (n=64) and divided in two groups. Thirty two subjects in control group received conventional rehabilitation program & thirty two in study group additionally received Robot-assisted therapy using over four weeks. Assessment was done pretreatment, at 1 month & at 4 months. The outcome measures were:Fugl-Meyer Assessment(FMA) score for upper extremity & Motor Activity Log scale(MAL) comprising of Amount of Use(AOU) score and Quality of Use (QOU) score. Chi-Square test and paired t test were used. Results were considered significant at 5% that is P value<0.05. The study group exhibited greater motor recovery than the control group on the FMA scores at 1month and 4months. The mean AOU and QOS scores of MAL in the study group were also better than that of control group at 1month and 4months. So it can be concluded thatRobot-assisted therapy can be used as a complement to conventional therapy for improving UE function in stroke.