Effects of motor imagery training on lower limb motor function of patients with chronic stroke: A pilot single‐blind randomized controlled trial

Abstract

Aims This pilot study aimed to evaluate the effects of motor imagery training on lower limb motor function of stroke patients. Background Motor imagery training has played an important role in rehabilitation outcomes of stroke patients. Methods In this pilot randomized controlled trial 32 stroke patients were randomly divided into experimental and control groups from January to June 2017. Patients in both groups received conventional neuro‐rehabilitation five times a week in 3‐h segments for 6 weeks. Patients in the experimental group underwent an additional 20 min of motor imagery training. Measures were evaluated by motor function of the lower extremity, activities of daily living and balance ability. Results The outcomes significantly improved by motor imagery training were the Fugl‐Meyer Assessment of the lower extremity, the Functional Independence Measure dealing with transfers and locomotion, and the Berg Balance Scale. Conclusion Motor imagery training could be used as a complement to physical rehabilitation of stroke patients. Our findings may be helpful to develop nursing strategies aimed at improving functional ability of stroke patients and thus enhancing their quality of life.

Effects of Motor Imagery Training for Lower Limb Dysfunction in Patients With Stroke

“…When we conducted the subgroup analysis, the five pooled studies 38,43,50,54,56 revealed a statistically significant effect (WMD, 7.14; 95% CI, 5.36 to 8.93; P < 0.00001; I 2 = 73%). High statistical heterogeneity was still present, and we performed further sensitivity analysis to remove the highly heterogeneous study and assess the stability of this result.…”

“… 44 One study 57 included participants in the acute stroke phase, and 11 studies included participants in the subacute stroke phase. 38 , 43 , 48 – 50 , 52 – 56 , 59 Seven studies included participants in the chronic stroke phase, 37 , 41 , 42 , 44 – 47 one study included poststroke participants from the subacute to chronic phase, 51 and three studies did not report or did not clarify the stroke phase. 39 , 40 , 58…”

“…The process of article screening and selection is shown in Figure 1. Eventually, 23 studies (1109 participants) 37–59 met the inclusion criteria in this review, including two multicenter trials, 38,46 two pilot studies, 45,56 and one study that included three comparison groups 44 . One study 57 included participants in the acute stroke phase, and 11 studies included participants in the subacute stroke phase 38,43,48–50,52–56,59 .…”

“…39,40,58 Twenty studies used kinesthetic MIT, whereby patients perceive their proprioception with the first-person view performing the movement. 39,40,[42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50][51][52][53][54][55][56][57][58][59] Two studies used kinesthetic MIT associated with visual MIT (to visualize realistic movements from the third-person view) in their trials. 37,41 One study applied visual or kinesthetic MIT based on individual preferences.…”

Motor imagery as an intervention to improve activities of daily living post-stroke: A systematic review of randomized controlled trials

“…Independence in ADL was measured in two studies using the full FIM (Kulkarni and Sureshkumar, 2018; Nam et al, 2019). Yin et al (2022) used the transfer and locomotion subscales of the FIM as opposed to the scale in its entirety. An original outcome measure was employed in two studies (Liu et al, 2004, 2009).…”