Effect of robot-assisted therapy combined with motor imagery therapy on upper limb motor function of stroke patients
Objective To explore the effect of robot-assisted therapy combined with motor imagery therapy on upper limb motor function of patients with stroke.Methods A total of 75 patients with incipient stroke(course of disease<3 months),who met the inclusion and exclusion criteria and were admitted to our center from Match 2019 to October 2022,were randomly divided into three groups(n=25)by random number table method.Besides conventional rehabilitation of upper limbs,group A received motor imagery therapy,group B received robot-assisted therapy and group C received robot-assisted therapy combined with motor imagery therapy for 8 weeks.The function of upper limbs and activities of daily living were evaluated by motion range of Armeo® Spring upper limb rehabilitation robot,simple Fugl-Meyer assessment-upper extremities(FMA-UE),and modified Barthel index(MBI)before treatment,after 4 weeks of treatment and 8 weeks of treatment.Results All the scores were significantly increased in the three groups after 4 weeks and 8 weeks of treatment(P<0.001).All the scores of group B and C were higher than those of group A after 4 weeks and 8 weeks of treatment(P<0.05).All the scores of group C were higher than those of group B after 8 weeks of treatment(P<0.05).Conclusion Robot-assisted therapy combined with motor imagery therapy can further improve the upper limb motor function and activities of daily living for stroke patients.