Jenna Blaschke, Amanda Vatinno, Gabrielle Scronce, Viswanathan Ramakrishnan and Na Jin Seo
Background: Sensory impairment severity may impact individual stroke survivors’ motor recovery as well as their response to peripheral sensory stimulation treatment.
Objective: To determine the effect of sensory impairment level of individual stroke survivors on motor improvement with therapy and peripheral sensory stimulation.
Methods: A secondary analysis of a pilot triple-blind randomized controlled trial. Twelve chronic stroke survivors participated in 2 weeks of hand task-practice therapy. They were randomly assigned to the treatment group receiving peripheral sensory stimulation or the control group receiving no stimulation during the therapy. Sensory impairment level was quantified as the pre-intervention sensory threshold. Motor improvement was assessed as change in the Box and Block Test score from pre to post-intervention. The association between sensory impairment level and motor improvement was examined using a regression analysis, accounting for groups.
Results: Participants with better sensation (i.e., with lower sensory threshold) had better motor improvement than patients with worse sensation (i.e., with higher sensory threshold). Sensory impairment level did not alter the effect of peripheral sensory stimulation.
Conclusion: The level of sensory impairment can be utilized to predict recovery potentials and direct rehabilitation treatment for stroke survivors.