Journal international de neuroréadaptation

The Motor Function Improvement of the Affected Hand after Stroke Induced by Music-supported Therapy: A Randomized Control Clinical Trail

Abstract

www.omicsonline.org/physiotherapy-physical-rehabilitation.phpWang Rongrong and Zhang Tong

Stroke is the second most common cause of death and major cause of disability worldwide. Hand motor dysfunction is a common impairment in stroke patients, as the cortical projection area of our fingers is large. Once it is damaged, it will be very difficult to restore the function, and has long been the focus and difficulty of stroke rehabilitation. Music- supported therapy in recent study was shown to induce improvements in motor skills in stroke survivors.
Objective: This study aimed at assessing the motor recovery of the affected hand induced by music-supported therapy in chronic stroke patients.
Methods: 14 patients with subcortical stroke, mild to moderately impaired hand function fulfilling the inclusion criteria were randomly assigned to the music group and control group. Both groups received keyboard (Yamaha) training for 30min, 20 times over 4 weeks in addition to conventional treatments. And the only difference between the two groups was that control group’s keyboard could not make any sound. They were trained in an intensive step by step training program. Patients were assessed by Wolf Motor Function Test before and after training.
Results: Both groups showed improvement in motor function assessed by Wolf Motor Function Test scores, and the improvement in music group was significantly better than that of the control group. Conclusions: The music-supported training with sound can enhance the restoration of hand function much better than the training with no sound in which the music played an important role.