Key result
Mental practice improves severe upper extremity hemiparesis and proves feasible in acute inpatient rehabilitation.
Why the study?
Limited interventions address severe upper extremity hemiparesis and the feasibility of mental practice in acute inpatient rehabilitation is unexplored.
Does a mental practice protocol improve upper extremity functional abilities and impairments in patients with severe upper extremity hemiparesis post-stroke?
Does a mental practice protocol improve upper extremity functional abilities and impairments in patients with severe upper extremity hemiparesis post-stroke?
Answers are grounded in this paper and cite their sources.
Mental practice appears to be a feasible and appropriate intervention to address severe upper extremity hemiparesis in the acute inpatient rehabilitation setting.
Limited interventions address severe upper extremity (UE) hemiparesis. The feasibility of mental practice (MP) in acute inpatient rehabilitation (AIR) is unexplored. The purpose of this pilot study was to assess the effect of MP on severe UE hemiparesis and the feasibility of MP in AIR. Single-group, pretest-posttest. Eleven patients ages 18-90, <1-month post-stroke, with UE hemiparesis completed an MP protocol, 5 days/week for 2 weeks. The Wolf Motor Function Test (WMFT) and Fugl Meyer Assessment (FM) assessed UE functional abilities and impairments. The patients and 17 occupational therapists working in AIR were surveyed to determine the feasibility of MP. Wilcoxon signed-rank test showed a statistically significant difference in FMA and WMFT scores pretest to posttest. The feasibility survey results found MP to be appropriate and feasible, with lower scores in acceptability. MP appears to be feasible and appropriate to address severe UE hemiparesis in the AIR setting.
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Green et al. (2025) studied Severe upper extremity hemiparesis post-stroke (n=11). Mental practice was evaluated on Upper extremity functional abilities and impairments (WMFT and FMA scores) and feasibility. Mental practice for 2 weeks resulted in statistically significant improvements in FMA and WMFT scores for severe upper extremity hemiparesis and was deemed feasible in acute inpatient rehabilitation.
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