Action observation training enhances upper extremity function in subacute stroke survivor with moderate impairment: a double-blind, randomized controlled pilot trial

Abstract

| Abstract |1 )PURPOSE: This study's aim was to investigate the effects of an action observational training in subactue stroke patients with moderate impairment. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that action observational training may be more helpful to improve upper-extremity function than physical training only in subactue patients with moderate impairment after stroke.

The effects of action observation training on improving upper limb motor functions in people with stroke: A systematic review and meta-analysis

“…Then, 70 articles were excluded, of which, 48 articles were not RCTs, two articles applied AOT in both groups, one study applied only a single-session AOT, three studies without sufficient data for meta-analysis, five studies reported overlapped patients’ dataset and eleven studies did not use any clinical upper limb motor outcome measurement. Ultimately, seven studies were included in the present review [8, 14, 26–30].…”

“…Totally, 276 participants with stroke were involved in this review, with 141 participants in the experimental group and 135 participants in the control group. There were two articles with 112 patients who suffered stroke less than 1 month [8, 14], two studies with 75 patients who suffered stroke between 1 and 6 months [27, 30] and one study with 16 patients who suffered stroke over 6 months [26]. One study recruited 61 subjects who suffered stroke within 6 months [29].…”

“…The experimental groups in six studies involved performing task-based AOT, such as grasping a cube, drinking from a glass, combing hair and opening a box [8, 14, 26, 28–30]; while one study conducted movement-based AOT, such as shrugging and adduction of the scapula, bending and extension of the elbow [27]. The control groups in four studies underwent sham AOT, of which, the static landscape paintings were shown to subjects in the control groups [8, 26–28].…”

“…Two studies provided the same conventional training for both control and experimental groups, but the latter received AOT in addition [14, 29]. Compared with experimental group, the patients in control group just simulated the predesigned movements without video observation in another study [30]. The duration of the interventions in all studies were ranged from 3 to 8 weeks [8, 14, 26–30], and the majority of them were set as 5 to 6 sessions per week, with each session varying from 20 minutes to 90 minutes.…”

Effect of Mirror Therapy Combined with Lower Extremity Muscle Strength Exercise on Gait and Balance of Patients with Chronic Stroke

“…Thus, the increased cortex excitability of the premotor area and inferior parietal lobe shows that visual feedback training with "action-observation" is involved in motor learning (Zentgraf et al, 2005). Action observation training is effective in upper extremity function in stroke patients with moderate disability (Kim and Bang, 2016).…”