Effects of robot-assisted arm training on respiratory muscle strength, activities of daily living, and quality of life in patients with stroke: a single-blinded randomized controlled trial.

Publisher: Informa Healthcare Country of Publication: England NLM ID: 9015520 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1532-5040 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 09593985 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Physiother Theory Pract Subsets: MEDLINE

Publication: London : Informa Healthcare
Original Publication: London, UK ; Hillsdale, N.J. : Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, c1990-

Quality of Life* ; Stroke Rehabilitation*/methods ; Activities of Daily Living* ; Respiratory Muscles*/physiopathology ; Muscle Strength* ; Robotics*; Humans ; Male ; Female ; Single-Blind Method ; Middle Aged ; Aged ; Stroke/physiopathology ; Recovery of Function

Background: Post-stroke clinical changes not only affect extremities and trunk muscles but also the respiratory muscles.
Purpose: To determine the effect of robot-assisted arm training with conventional rehabilitation (CombT) on respiratory muscle strength, activities of daily living (ADL), and quality of life in patients with stroke and to compare the results with conventional rehabilitation (CR).
Methods: It was a two-arm, single-blinded, randomized controlled trial in which 66 patients were randomly allocated to either CombT or CR to receive 30 sessions (5/week) over 6 weeks. The respiratory muscle strength (maximal inspiratory pressure (MIP) and maximal expiratory pressure (MEP)), activities of daily life (ABILHAND questionnaire), and quality of life (Stroke Impact Scale (SIS)) were measured before and 6 weeks after training.
Results: The CombT group showed significantly better MIP, MEP, and performance in ADLs after 6 weeks of training compared to the CR group ( p  < .01). The effect size was large for MIP (d = 0.9) and MEP (d = 0.9), whereas medium for performance in ADLs (d = 0.62). Also, the SIS-arm strength ( p  < .01), hand function ( p  = .04), ADLs ( p  = .02), and recovery ( p  = .04) were significantly better in CombT group with a medium (d = 0.6, d = 0.5, d = 0.5, and d = 0.5, respectively) effect size compared with CR group.
Conclusions: Both CombT and CR groups improved respiratory muscle strength, performance in ADLs, and quality of life in patients with stroke. However, CombT appears to offer more comprehensive benefits, highlighting its valuable role in respiratory and functional recovery after stroke.

Keywords: Stroke; rehabilitation; respiratory muscle strength; robot-assisted arm training

Date Created: 20240102 Date Completed: 20241129 Latest Revision: 20241216

20250114

10.1080/09593985.2023.2299727

38165122