title: Effect of Upper Extremity Robot-Assisted Exercise on Spasticity in Stroke Patients.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine the efficacy of a stretching and strengthening exercise program using an upper extremity robot, as compared with a conventional occupational therapy program for upper extremity spasticity in stroke patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  Subjects were randomly divided into a robot-assisted therapy (RT) group and a conventional rehabilitation therapy (CT) group. RT group patients received RT and CT once daily for 30 minutes each, 5 days a week, for 2 weeks. RT was performed using an upper-extremity robot (Neuro-X; Apsun Inc., Seoul, Korea), and CT was administered by occupational therapists. CT group patients received CT alone twice daily for 30 minutes, 5 days a week, for 2 weeks. Modified Ashworth Scale (MAS) was used to measure the spasticity of upper extremity. Manual muscle tests (MMT), Manual Function Tests (MFT), Brunnstrom stage, and the Korean version of Modified Barthel Index (K-MBI) were used to measure the strength and function of upper extremity. All measurements were obtained before and after 2-week treatment.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The RT and CT groups included 22 subjects each. After treatment, both groups showed significantly lower MAS scores and significant improvement in the MMT, MFT, Brunnstrom stage, and K-MBI scores. Treatment effects showed no significant differences between the two groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  RT showed similar treatment benefits on spasticity, as compared to CT. The study results suggested that RT could be a useful method for continuous, repeatable, and relatively accurate range of motion exercise in stroke patients with spasticity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Dong-A University College of Medicine & Busan-Ulsan Regional Cardiocerebrovascular Center, Busan, Korea.
authors.forename: Kyeong Woo
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-8785-5535
authors.initials: KW
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Dong-A University College of Medicine & Busan-Ulsan Regional Cardiocerebrovascular Center, Busan, Korea.
authors.forename: Sang Beom
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-5622-5933
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Dong-A University College of Medicine & Busan-Ulsan Regional Cardiocerebrovascular Center, Busan, Korea.
authors.forename: Jong Hwa
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-2489-358X
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Dong-A University College of Medicine & Busan-Ulsan Regional Cardiocerebrovascular Center, Busan, Korea.
authors.forename: Sook Joung
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-6894-445X
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Dong-A University College of Medicine & Busan-Ulsan Regional Cardiocerebrovascular Center, Busan, Korea.
authors.forename: Seung Wan
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-4955-6969
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Yoo
keywords: Robot; Spasticity; Stroke; Upper extremity