ABSTRACT
Background: Stroke is the third leading cause of death and the primary cause of serious, long-term disability which can be regarded as weakness, generalized fatigue, loss of voluntary motor control or limitation in mobility, spasticity, sensory and cognitive dysfunction. In this research, a comparative study on the ability of independent self-care was conducted between two groups of patients during a 3 months follow-up period viz. Group A - patients who were given Home Exercise Programme (HEP) with conventional physiotherapy; and Group B - patients who were given HEP with conventional physiotherapy along with neuro-facilitation via Rood’s approach.Methods: In this study 236 haemorrhagic stroke patients were recruited and randomly divided to two groups. Both the groups were given a HEP consisting of regular physiotherapy. Additionally, one group out of the two was also taught exercises based on Rood’s approach consisting of facilitation and inhibition with the help of sensory stimulation, purposeful activity based exercises, with additional emphasis on repetition. The output was evaluated in terms of disability using the Barthel Index after 3 months of treatment.Results: After 3 months, it was found that patients who received HEP with both conventional physiotherapy and Rood’s approach had significantly greater improvement in Barthel Index scores compared to patients who received HEP only through conventional physiotherapy.Conclusions: This suggests that HEP consisting of conventional physiotherapy along with Rood’s approach is more effective in improving the ability of independent self-care in case of post intra-cerebral haemorrhagic patients when compared to conventional physiotherapy alone.
ABSTRACT
Background: Physical therapists are integral to the rehabilitation of patients of stroke, and home exercise program (HEP) prescription is a routine part of physical therapy care. Strength training is imperative in interventions for stroke patients. Various components of Rood’s Approach are effective in stroke rehabilitation, an aspect that has not been thoroughly explored as yet. Methods: A randomized controlled trial study was done at Gauhati Medical College & Hospital, Assam. The subjects were 236 hemorrhagic stroke patients who were randomly assigned into two groups. Both the groups were given a HEP consisting of routine physiotherapy exercises. Additionally, one group out of the two was also taught exercises based on the Rood’s approach, consisting of facilitation and inhibition techniques with the help of sensory stimulation and repetitive task-specific activity. The output was evaluated in terms of muscle strength using Manual Muscle Testing (MMT) after three months of intervention. Results: It was observed that HEP with Rood’s approach significantly improved (p<0.05) the muscle strength in shoulder flexors (p=0.038), shoulder extensors (p=0.003), shoulder abductors (p=0.033), shoulder adductors (p=0.018), elbow flexors (p=0.009), wrist flexors (p=0.044), finger flexors (p=0.011), hip flexors (p=0.007), hip extensors (p=0.015), hip adductors (p=0.00), knee flexors (p=0.00), ankle plantar flexors (p=0.00) and dorsi flexors (p=0.039). However, no improvements were observed for elbow extensors, wrist extensors, finger extensors, hip abductors and knee extensors. Conclusion: Although it was observed that both the Groups improving their muscle strength, but HEP with Rood’s approach was found to be more effective in improving muscle strength.