ABSTRACT
Objective To investigate the effects of constraint-induced movement therapy (CIMT) on the function of hemiplegic upper extremity in the early subacute stroke patients.Methods A prospective,single-blinded,randomized controlled study was conducted.Forty-seven stroke patients with hemiplegic upper limb dysfunction were randomly divided into 2 groups:a CIMT group and a control group.The CIMT group received constraintinduced movement therapy and the control group was treated with conventional rehabilitation therapy.Both groups were treated 3 h daily,5 d a week for 2 weeks.The Wolf motor function test (WMFT) and Fugl-Meyer Assessment (FMA) were used to evaluate upper extremity motor function,and motor activity log (MAL) was used to assess upper extremity ability in activities.WMFT,FMA and MAL were measured before and after 1 day and 6 months of treatment.Results After 1 day of treatment,FMA,WMFT,MAL-AU and MAL-HW were 53.81 ± 2.59,66.68 ± 3.54,1.89 ± 0.88 and 3.26 ± 0.65,respectively,in the CIMT group,and 48.61 ± 4.48,62.10 ± 7.97,1.25 ± 0.64 and 2.65 ± 0.93,respectively,in the control group.After 6 months of treatment,FMA,WMFT,MAL-AU and MAL-HW were 57.53 ±2.01,69.57 ± 3.00,3.00 ±0.82 and 3.84 ±0.69,respectively,in the CIMT group,and 53.30 ± 2.88,66.20 ±3.59,2.20 ± 1.06 and 3.25 ±0.64,respectively,in the control group.The scores of FMA,WMFT,MAL in the CIMT group were all higher than those in the control group at 1 day and 6 months post-treatment,and the differences were statistically significant (P ＜ 0.05).Conclusion Constraint-induced movement therapy can significantly improve the patients' hand function in the early stage of subacute stroke,which maintain up to 6 months of follow-up.