The Effect of Bilateral Upper Limb Training on Recovery of Upper Limb Function in Patients with Acute Stroke

The purpose of this study was to survey the influence on action observation of meaningful tasks on upper limb function in patients with stroke. Thirty stroke patients were prospectively randomized to bilateral upper limb training task (BULTT) group or general upper limb rehabilitation (GULR) group.

We studied 30 acute stroke patients. The experimental group (N = 15) applied bilateral upper limb training task (BULTT) and the control group (N = 15) performed general upper limb rehabilitation (GULR) for the affected side. Both groups executed 5 times per week and 30 minutes per session for 4 weeks. To assess the effects of intervention, the paired t-test was used to contrast before and after intervention results of each group. The independent t-test test was used to contrast changes in outcome measures between the groups.

The Fugl-Meyer Assessment (FMA) before-test score BULTT group was 17.00 ± 3.74 and aftertest score was 21.27 ± 4.62. Significant changes in the FMA were observed in both groups. However, the results from the observation of BULTT were most significant. The mean change in FMA score was 4.27 ± 2.09 in the BULTT group and 1.80 ± 1.78 in the GULR group, showing a statistically significant difference. The BULTT group showed a significant increase in upper limb function after training intervention.

This study demonstrated that action observation of meaningful bilateral upper limb training in patients with stroke. We present evidence that action observation of meaningful tasks has a beneficial effect in occupational therapy for movement disorders after stroke.