Acute Effect of Mirror Therapy on Rehabilitation of Paretic Upper Extremity After Chronic Stroke

Plain-language summary

Objective: To investigate the acute effect of mirror therapy (MT) on motor control, manual dexterity and spasticity of the paretic upper extremity (UE) of individuals with chronic hemiparesis after stroke, during reaching task. Design: Randomized cross-over single-blinded trial. Subjects: Thirty-three patients post chronic stroke were recruited of the study. Intervention: Patients who first participated in the MT intervention performed a single session of MT, whereas in the control intervention a single session composed of the same exercises was performed, but without the mirror. After a month washout, the patients switched groups. Main measure: The primary outcome measure was motor control. The secondary outcome measure was manual dexterity and UE spasticity. The data will be expressed as mean and 95% confidence interval (continuous variable) and absolute frequency (categorical variables). To compare the outcomes of the different experimental sessions and at the different moments (pre and post session), the Generalized Estimating Equations with post hoc LSD (Least Significant Difference) methods will be used. For all analysis the significance level was set at α = 0.05 and statistical software SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences for Mac, version 22.0, IBM, USA) will be used. Key words: Stroke, mirror therapy, upper extremity, kinematic analysis

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