REPETITIVE PRACTICE OF A SINGLE JOINT MOVEMENT FOR ENHANCING ELBOW FUNCTION IN HEMIPARETIC PATIENTS

The primary goal of this study was to assess whether repetitive practi ce of flexion-extension movements of the affected elbow in hemiparetic patients enhances performance and to compare the effects of this prac tice mode to the effects of the physical therapy variable exercise pro gram which is routinely applied during sessions. Subjects were 27 post stroke hemiparetic patients, residents of a rehabilitation institute, divided into an experimental (n=15) and a control group (n=12). The fo rmer were treated with 800 repeated elbow movements in a maximal prede termined amplitude of 80 degrees, provided in 8 equal sessions every o ther day. The latter received 10 min. of conventional physical therapy for the paretic upper extremity at similar time intervals. Pre- and p osttreatment assessments included the bilateral measurements of kinema tic Variables and activation latencies of the biceps and triceps brach i muscles as well as motor and functional rests. For all criterion var iables, the findings pointed to comparable improvement in both groups. It was concluded that repetitive elbow movements had no unique traini ng effect on the kinematics of movement and on activation latencies of the primary muscles controlling elbow function in hemiparetic patient s. Further, transfer of the effects of training to execution of moveme nts towards and from the mouth was also comparable in both groups, poi nting again to there being no particular advantage in using repetitive movements as a training mode for enhancement of elbow function in hem iparetic patients.