Efficacy of Upper Extremity Robotic Therapy in Subacute Poststroke Hemiplegia

Although stroke affects nearly 15 million people worldwide annually, with 5 million experiencing some degree of permanent paralysis, appropriate rehabilitation programs can improve motor function and quality of life. For example, repetitive voluntary movement of the paralyzed limb can improve function and remodel neural circuits. Robotic technologies may be effective for stroke rehabilitation because they can produce consistent repetitive patterns in an automated manner. However, although one recent systematic review reported that robot-assisted training improves activities of daily living and arm function, another reported that robotic therapy is not more effective than standard therapy, except as an adjuvant. The present study aimed to investigate whether robotic therapy is a more effective adjuvant to standard rehabilitation than self-guided therapy in subacute poststroke rehabilitation.