Rehabilitation of chronic stroke patients: changes in functional performance.
Forty stroke patients who were at least one year post-onset completed a one-month intensive rehabilitation program. The month before the program served as a control period. During the program, patients received individual sessions in occupational and physical therapy four days a week, and they participated in group activities on the fifth day. Therapy emphasized instruction in motor planning, balance and weight shift, and the use of adaptive equipment; these motor abilities were then practiced within real life situations. The patients demonstrated significant improvement in the outcome measures of weight shift, balance, and ADL scores after the one-month rehabilitation program (weight shift: F = 16.1, p = .0001; balance: F = 6.26, p = .0007; ADL: F = 13.8, p = .0001). They retained these new skills during a three-month follow-up period.
Tangeman
P T
PT
Stroke Management Clinic, School of Physical Therapy, Pacific University, Forest Grove, OR 97116.
Banaitis
D A
DA
Williams
A K
AK
D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002561:Cerebrovascular Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009788:Occupational Therapy; D026741:Physical Therapy Modalities; D004856:Postural Balance / Q000502:physiology