title: Effects of Adjuvant Mental Practice on Affected Upper Limb Function Following a Stroke: Results of Three-Dimensional Motion Analysis, Fugl-Meyer Assessment of the Upper Extremity and Motor Activity Logs.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the effects of adjuvant mental practice (MP) on affected upper limb function following a stroke using three-dimensional (3D) motion analysis.
  
  
  METHODS
  In this AB/BA crossover study, we studied 10 hemiplegic patients who had a stroke within the past 6 months. The patients were randomly allocated to two groups: one group received MP combined with conventional rehabilitation therapy for the first 3 weeks followed by conventional rehabilitation therapy alone for the final 3 weeks; the other group received the same therapy but in reverse order. The MP tasks included drinking from a cup and opening a door. MP was individually administered for 20 minutes, 3 days a week for 3 weeks. To assess the tasks, we used 3D motion analysis and three additional tests: the Fugl-Meyer Assessment of the upper extremity (FMA-UE) and the motor activity logs for amount of use (MAL-AOU) and quality of movement (MAL-QOM). Assessments were performed immediately before treatment (T0), 3 weeks into treatment (T1), and 6 weeks into treatment (T2).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Based on the results of the 3D motion analysis and the FMA-UE index (p=0.106), the MAL-AOU scale (p=0.092), and MAL-QOM scale (p=0.273), adjuvant MP did not result in significant improvements.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Adjuvant MP had no significant effect on upper limb function following a stroke, according to 3D motion analysis and three clinical assessment tools (the FMA-UE index and the two MAL scales). The importance of this study is its use of objective 3D motion analysis to evaluate the effects of MP. Further studies will be needed to validate these findings.
authors.affiliation: Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, National Rehabilitation Center, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Hyun Seung
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-9765-0397
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Oh
authors.affiliation: Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, National Rehabilitation Center, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Eun Joo
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-6166-7886
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Goseong Community Health Center, Gyeongsangnam-do, Korea.
authors.forename: Doo Young
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-1327-5348
authors.initials: DY
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, National Rehabilitation Center, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Soo Jeong
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-3951-6947
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Kim
keywords: Stroke; Upper extremity