Home-based telerehabilitation shows improved upper limb function in adults with chronic stroke: a pilot study

Abstract

Objective: This pilot study investigates the use of telerehabilitation to improve upper limb performance in chronic stages of stroke recovery.

Design: Intervention study with pre/post/one month follow-up tests.

Methods: Seven adults with chronic stroke participated in the study. Tests consisted of lab-based clinical and kinematic assessments. Participants completed the Upper Limb Training and Assessment (ULTrA) program at home. Training was 5 days/week, 60 min/day for 6 weeks with intermittent supervision of participants.

Results: Participants showed improvements in the training program tasks as well as clinical and kinematic assessments. Results also suggest there may be auxiliary benefits in cognitive function.

Conclusions: A home-based telerehabilitation program is a viable approach to provide rehabilitation in chronic stages of stroke.

Figures

Fig. 1

Kinematics of reaching movements. (A) Movement smoothness represented by mean (+1 standard error) normalized jerk score. (B) Bar graphs represent pre/post normalized jerk scores for the more affected (MA) hand of each participant. The line in the pre-test bar represents the normalized jerk score for the less affected hand.

Fig. 2

(A) Streamlined Wolf Motor Function Test scores for individual participants, (B) Mean (+ 1 standard error (SE)) tactile discrimination accuracy for the more (MA) and less (LA) affected hand, (C) Mean (+ 1 SE) elbow position matching errors, (D) Total Groton Maze Task errors for individual participants.