Action Observation Therapy Versus Mirror Therapy on Upper Limb in Stroke

Riphah International University

Status: Enrolling

Conditions: Stroke

Treatments: Other: Mirror Therapy; Other: Action Observation Therapy

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT05544747

REC-01332 Sania

Details and patient eligibility

About

Stroke is a medical condition which causes the cessation of blood flow to the brain cells and results in cell death and ultimately can lead to motor disorders, perception disorders, language disorders, sensory disturbances.It is well known that stroke is the leading cause of death and one of the greatest causes of long-term motor disability in adults.The incidence of stroke is increasing day by day in low-income countries as compared to high-income countries because of the effects of not using evidence-based practice in health-related conditions in low-income countries. In the last few years, several approaches have been used for the recovery of hand dexterity after stroke. Among them, the Mirror therapy, task-oriented therapy, robot-assisted rehabilitation and action observation has gained greatest attention.Action observation training is one of the new developing rehabilitation technique that targets motor learning by the activation of mirror neurons and is the most important approach that targets the motor and functional recovery in stroke patients. In action observation training, the movements are produced because of the external stimuli in which actually the visual attention recruit the cerebellar-thalamic-cortical circuit of the brain. Action observation is based on activities of the motor neuron system and they discharge mostly in association with complex tasks as compared to simple tasks.

Enrollment: 50 estimated patients

Sex: All

Ages: 40 to 60 years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Both male and female
• Middle cerebral artery stroke
• 1 to 6 months of stroke onset
• Baseline score of the Fugyl Myer Assessment is between 20 and 60 for the upper limb.
• Modified Ashworth scale with a score of 2 Ability to follow the study instructions-Mini mental state examination (MMSE) score >25

Exclusion criteria

• Participants failing to fall in this category would be excluded from the study.
• Patients who cannot perform the active movement of the upper limb in pre-stroke condition due to musculoskeletal problems
• cardiopulmonary diseases which could hinder their ability to participate in the rehabilitation program in this study
• Patient with impaired cognition

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Double Blind

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50 participants in 2 patient groups

Action Observation Therapy

Experimental group

Description:

The patients in the action observation therapy group will be required to observe the upper limb movements or functional actions in video clips. (i.e., the observation phase) and to execute what they had observed to the best of their ability (i.e., the execution phase). Three common categories of movements and tasks will be elected in the action observation therapy protocol based on the related literature

Treatment:

Other: Action Observation Therapy

Mirror Therapy

Active Comparator group

Description:

During the mirror therapy, the patients will be seated in front of a mirror box placed at their mid-sagittal plane. The affected arm of the participants will be placed inside the mirror box and the unaffected arm in front of the mirror. The patient will be instructed to watch the mirror reflection of the movement performed by his/her unaffected hand carefully and to imagine that the movement was performed by the affected hand.

Treatment:

Other: Mirror Therapy