title: Effects of 5 minutes of neck-muscle vibration immediately before occupational therapy on unilateral spatial neglect.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the effects of neck-muscle vibration for 5 min before occupational therapy (OT) on unilateral spatial neglect (USN).
  
  
  METHODS
  In this multiple-baseline design study for 6 weeks (A(1)-B-A(2) design: A(1), A(2); conventional OT without neck-muscle vibration, B; neck-muscle vibration before OT together with conventional OT), we examined 11 right brain-damaged patients in the post-acute phase of stroke who showed USN. Sessions A(1) and A(2): conventional OT for 40 min once daily for 5 days a week. Session B: the left posterior neck muscles of the patient were subjected to vibration for 5 min, without confirming the appearance of a kinaesthetic illusion, immediately before OT, and then the same OT programme as in sessions A(1) and A(2) was performed. Each session lasted 2 weeks. USN and activities of daily living (ADL) were evaluated at 2-week intervals by the Behavioural Inattention Test (BIT) and Functional Independence Measure (FIM), respectively.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Significant increases in the total scores in both the conventional subtest and behavioural subtest of the BIT were only seen during session B. FIM scores increased significantly during both sessions A(1) and B.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The application of neck-muscle vibration before OT may have positive effects on USN, but the specific effect on the improvement of ADL is not clear.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, Department of Rehabilitation and Physical Medicine, Kagoshima University, Makizono-cho, Kagoshima, Japan.
authors.forename: Katsuya
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kamada
authors.forename: Megumi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shimodozono
authors.forename: Hirofumi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hamada
authors.forename: Kazumi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kawahira
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009334:Neck Muscles / Q000502:physiology*; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D009788:Occupational Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D010468:Perceptual Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D020127:Recovery of Function; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D020521:Stroke / Q000503:physiopathology; D000071939:Stroke Rehabilitation; D013997:Time Factors; D014732:Vibration