Med J Islam Repub Iran
School of Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada.
Published: December 2021
Action Observation Therapy (AOT) is a top-down approach that has been recently introduced in the rehabilitation of neurological disorders mainly after stroke. The main goal of this study was to investigate the effects and feasibility of a new technique in AOT procedure (called self-AOT) following periods of no treatment and routine AOT intervention on upper limb motor function, occupational performance and neurophysiological changes in a stroke patient. A single-subject A-B-A-C design was used and a 58-year-old woman with a 3-year history of left hemiplegia poststroke participated in this study. In the baseline (A1, A2) phases, the patient received no treatment. In the first intervention (B phase), she received a 4-week AOT, and in the second intervention (C phase), a 4 week of Self-AOT was practiced. In all phases, upper limb motor recovery as a target outcome was evaluated on 4 occasions using the Fugl-Meyer assessment. Upper limb function, dexterity and spasticity were assessed using Action Research Arm Test, Box-Block Test and Modified Modified Ashworth Scale respectively. Occupational Performance/Satisfaction was assessed with Canadian Occupational Performance Measure and to assess neuroplasticity, Motor Evoked Potential was recorded by Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation. Visual analysis, slope, and percentage of non-overlapping data were used for assessing the changes between phases. Percentage of non-overlapping data and slopes indicated that motor recovery had clinically relevant improvements after both interventions compared to baselines. Other outcomes also showed improvements except for spasticity of wrist/elbow flexors and Motor Evoked Potential of opponens indicis. Self-AOT may be as effective as other procedures of AOT for improving upper limb motor function, occupational performance/satisfaction, and cortical excitability post-stroke.
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http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9391775 | PMC |
http://dx.doi.org/10.47176/mjiri.35.193 | DOI Listing |
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