The Effect of Robot-assisted Virtual Reality Therapy on Improving Upper Limb Functions, Pain And Daily Living Activities in Stroke Patients
Abstract
Objective: In present study, our aim is to examine the effect of robot-assisted virtual reality therapy (RAVRT) added to conventional treatment on pain, functional status and daily living activities (DLA) in stroke patients.
Material and Methods: The study included 40 patients with stroke. The patients were divided into two groups. Group I received conventional therapy (5 days a week for 4 weeks, 1 hour a day) and additionally 20 sessions of upper extremity RAVRT for 4 weeks, 5 days a week, 30 minutes a day. Group II received only conventional therapy. All patients were evaluated before and after the treatment. The Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) was used to evaluate the patients' pain, the Barthel Index (BI) to determine DLA, and the Fugl Meyer Assessment Upper Extremity (FMA-UE) to evaluate the UE motor functions.
Results: The mean age of the patients was 58.25 ± 14.7 years. There was no significant difference between the two groups in terms of gender, educational status, time after stroke, lesion side and lesion type (p>0.05). In groups I and II, after the treatment (AT), all parameters showed a significant (p˂0.05) increase when compared to values before the treatment (BT). However, the BT / AT change in VAS, BI and FMA-UE scores were not significantly different (p˃0.05) between the two groups.
Conclusion: This study showed that RAVRT improved functional status, activities of daily living and pain scores of chronic stroke patients, but there was no difference between the two groups after treatment. Although functional improvements were noted with the RAVRT approach, it was not superior to conventional therapy alone.
Keywords
stroke , upper extremity , robot-assisted therapy , virtual reality
Kaynakça
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