scholarly journals ADAPTATION OF DASH OUTCOME MEASURES TO SLOVENIAN POPULATION - FUNCTIONALITY OF ARM, SHOULDER AND HAND

2015 ◽  
Vol 84 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Katja Semprimožnik ◽  
Ernest Novak

 ABSTRACT BackgroundIn Slovenia, there is no test for upper limb function, which would be uniform for all institutions and would allow comparison of results of the therapy and upper limb rehabilitation with medical centers. MethodsAfter reviewing the existing hand function tests and current literature we decided to translate the DASH test - Disabilities of arm, shoulder and hand. Adaptation was tested on patient population in outpatient hand clinic, General hospital Celje and showed good validity, reliability and responsiveness. Results and discussionAdaptation of DASH test to Slovene population is a procedure, where language and cultural differences must be considered. Testing the adapted DASH in the general population shows good validity, reliability and responsiveness of adapted test. ConclusionTranslations DASH test, QuickDASH test and instructions for scoring the DASH outcome measures are approved by the Institute for Work and Health. Translations are published on their site and available for use.

1999 ◽  
Vol 55 (2) ◽  
pp. 4-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Fearnhead ◽  
C. J. Eales ◽  
V. U. Fritz

Impairment of upper limb function is a significant cause of functional disability after stroke. Based on a review of the literature this paper defines upper limb function and highlights some of the relevant recent developments in neuropathology. The effects of changes in sensation, muscle recruitment and tone are described. Reliable and valid outcome measures of upper limb impairment and disability are listed. The principles of rehabilitation are described in terms of timing of rehabilitation, sensory reeducation, motor control and functional use. Questions are raised regarding the need for counselling for the loss of fine discriminative hand function and for research into this behavioural aspect of upper limb rehabilitation.


2017 ◽  
Vol 2017 ◽  
pp. 1-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xikai Tu ◽  
Hualin Han ◽  
Jian Huang ◽  
Jian Li ◽  
Chen Su ◽  
...  

The reach-to-grasp activities play an important role in our daily lives. The developed RUPERT for stroke patients with high stiffness in arm flexor muscles is a low-cost lightweight portable exoskeleton rehabilitation robot whose joints are unidirectionally actuated by pneumatic artificial muscles (PAMs). In order to expand the useful range of RUPERT especially for patients with flaccid paralysis, functional electrical stimulation (FES) is taken to activate paralyzed arm muscles. As both the exoskeleton robot driven by PAMs and the neuromuscular skeletal system under FES possess the highly nonlinear and time-varying characteristics, iterative learning control (ILC) is studied and is taken to control this newly designed hybrid rehabilitation system for reaching trainings. Hand function rehabilitation refers to grasping. Because of tiny finger muscles, grasping and releasing are realized by FES array electrodes and matrix scan method. By using the surface electromyography (EMG) technique, the subject’s active intent is identified. The upper limb rehabilitation robot powered by PAMs cooperates with FES arrays to realize active reach-to-grasp trainings, which was verified through experiments.


2008 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 357-365 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marko Ka-leung Chan ◽  
Raymond Kai-yu Tong ◽  
Kenneth Yiu-kwan Chung

Background. The recovery rate of upper limb function after stroke is poor when compared with independent walking. Therefore, effective methods are warranted for upper limb rehabilitation. Objective. The aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of functional electric stimulation (FES) with bilateral activities training on upper limb function. Methods. This study was a double-blinded randomized controlled trial. Twenty patients were recruited 6 months after the onset of stroke and completed 15 training sessions. Participants were randomly assigned to the FES group or to the control group. Each session consisted of stretching activities (10 minutes), FES with bilateral tasks (20 minutes), and occupational therapy treatment (60 minutes). The participants used a self-trigger mechanism, with an accelerometer as a motion detector, for generating an electric stimulation pattern that was synchronized with the bilateral upper limb activities during the training. The participants in the control group received the same duration of stretching and occupational therapy training except that they just received placebo stimulation with the bilateral tasks. The outcome measures included Functional Test for the Hemiplegic Upper Extremity (FTHUE), Fugl—Meyer Assessment (FMA), grip power, forward reaching distance, active range of motion of wrist extension, Functional Independence Measure, and Modified Ashworth Scale. Results. At baseline comparison, there was no significant difference in both groups. After 15 training sessions, the FES group had significant improvement in FMA ( P = .039), FTHUE ( P = .001), and active range of motion of wrist extension ( P = .020) when compared with the control group. Conclusions. Bilateral upper limb training with FES could be an effective method for upper limb rehabilitation of stroke patients after 15 training sessions.


Author(s):  
Zhenxuan Zhang ◽  
Boris I. Prilutsky ◽  
Andrew J. Butler ◽  
Minoru Shinohara ◽  
Maysam Ghovanloo

Stroke is a devastating condition that may cause upper limb paralysis. Robotic rehabilitation with self-initiated and assisted movements is a promising technology that could help restore upper limb function. Previous studies have established that the tongue motion can be used to communicate human intent and control a rehabilitation robot/assistive device. The goal of this study was to evaluate a tongue-operated exoskeleton system (TDS-KA), which we have developed for upper limb rehabilitation. We adopted a tongue-operated assistive technology, called the tongue drive system (TDS), and interfaced it with the exoskeleton KINARM. We also developed arm reaching and tracking tasks, controlled by different tongue operation modes, for training and evaluation of arm motor function. Arm reaching and tracking tasks were tested in 10 healthy participants (seven males and three females, 23–60 years) and two female stroke survivors with upper extremity impairment (32 and 58 years). All healthy and two stroke participants successfully performed the tasks. One stroke subject demonstrated a clinically significant improvement in Fugl-Meyer upper extremity score after practicing the tasks in six 3-h sessions. We conclude that the TDS-KA system can accurately translate tongue commands to exoskeleton arm movements, quantify the function of the arm, and perform rehabilitation training.


2008 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 237-246 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natasha A. Lannin ◽  
Annie McCluskey

AbstractObjective:To summarise the effect of upper limb rehabilitation interventions on motor function in adults with traumatic brain injury.Data sources:Databases were last searched on August 2, 2008. Sources included the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL); Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, the Database of Effectiveness Reviews; MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro), Occupational Therapy Systematic Evaluation of Evidence database (OTseeker); Google Scholar; and reference lists of included studies.Review methods:Two reviewers determined whether retrieved abstracts met the inclusion criteria: systematic reviews and randomised controlled trials (RCTs); English language; adult participants; ≥ 50% of study participants with a brain injury; interventions designed to improve upper limb motor function. Included papers were appraised for: study design, participants, therapy approach, therapy protocol (indications, contra-indications, intensity and duration), safety and adverse events, and outcomes. The methodological quality of RCTs was rated using the PEDro scale (1–10 highest). Methodology of systematic reviews was rated using the QUOROM criteria.Results:Of the 333 references identified, six were appraised: three systematic reviews and three RCTs. Methodological quality was high for two RCTs, and moderate for one, based on the PEDro scale score. Interventions included upper limb casting, electrical stimulation, and coordination training using meal preparation tasks (making a sandwich and hot drink). In the latter trial, practice of functional kitchen tasks improved fine motor coordination speed on one of four Jebsen-Taylor hand function subtests by 9.38 seconds (95% CI, 1.1 to 17.7). Remaining trials reported non-significant effects for hand function. Small sample sizes and limited reporting of results reduce the interpretability of two RCTs.Conclusion:No conclusive evidence was found on which to base upper limb motor rehabilitation after brain injury, however, lack of evidence does not equate to evidence of no effect.


2017 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-47 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marta Sidaway ◽  
Julita Głowacka-Popkiewicz ◽  
Maciej Krawczyk ◽  
Tomasz Waraksa

Abstract Stroke is still the most common cause of disability in Poland and in western countries. As many as 80% of patients report reduced upper limb function in the acute phase after stroke. It is estimated that only 5% to 20% of patients experience full functional recovery of an upper limb. In clinical practice, paretic upper limb stimulation after stroke is usually treated as of secondary importance. However, it constantly poses a challenge to physical therapists. The existing procedures do not provide detailed guidelines regarding upper limb rehabilitation model particularly in the first four weeks after stroke. It is hard to predict biological limitations and the effectiveness of upper limb rehabilitation. The aim of this work is to make an attempt at reviewing the knowledge of the current state of early upper limb physiotherapy, its intensity and strategy type as well as neurobiological foundations of the improvement process. Ample scientific evidence confirms that early post-stroke rehabilitation is crucial. There are relatively few foreign (and virtually no Polish) reports related to early upper limb rehabilitation that would take into account the type of exercises and their therapeutic dose. There are still no solid foundations for determining optimal intensity and type of upper limb rehabilitation (including physical and occupational therapy). There is a scarcity of extensive and uniform (in terms of research groups and tools) multicentre investigations aimed at defining an optimal model of upper limb rehabilitation at an early stage after stroke. Thus, a number of questions still remain unanswered.


ROBOT ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 307-313 ◽  
Author(s):  
Baoguo XU ◽  
Si PENG ◽  
Aiguo SONG

ROBOT ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 34 (5) ◽  
pp. 539 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lizheng PAN ◽  
Aiguo SONG ◽  
Guozheng XU ◽  
Huijun LI ◽  
Baoguo XU

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