Effects of Mirror Therapy and Constrained Induced Movement Therapy in Upper Limb Rehabilitation Among Chronic Stroke Patients.

Worldwide stroke affects mostly aged population and thus leads to morbidity and mortality.

According to world health organization stroke causes second most common cases of death and a leading cause of morbidity in adults. Most developed countries are more affected with stroke as compared to developing region around the world. Based on WHO record, estimated annual death rates with stroke was 5.5 million. For optimal functioning, Brain requires sufficient supply of blood and for this carotid arteries are responsible for supplying oxygen rich blood to different areas of the brain. As an individual breathes, the brain consumes 20% of oxygen, which allows it to work efficiently. As in the case of a stroke, brain cells die quickly when there is a blockage or obstruction of oxygen to the brain by impeded blood flow. Blood plaques or clots disrupts oxygen rich supply to the brain in ischemic stroke leads to brain cell death. Whereas, sudden rupturing of blood vessels leads to cell death in hemorrhagic stoke. Most studies showed that task specific motor programs an repetition of movements on both upper and lower limbs are more effective interventions14. Various other treatment protocols are also used for improving limb functions, like visual feedback training, assistive robotic training, Functional Electrical Stimulator (FES) and Constrained Induced Movement Therapy (CIMT). These therapies help in improving motor performance from the affected side of stroke patients. Uni-manual, high intensity training known as Constrained Induced Movement Therapy or forced use is reported as an effective treatment for training the motor cortex areas. Task specific or bi-manual programs with rhythmic auditory clues were also included in this training to improve motor functions. Researcher conducted a latest study in 2019 by random sampling method to find the effect of mirror therapy for upper limb rehabilitation. They allocate the participants randomly into three groups based on movement mirror therapy (MMT), task specific mirror therapy (TMT) and conventional therapy (CT). The session consists of 30 minutes a day, 5 days in a week and for total 4 weeks. Performance was measured by FMA-UE, Wolf motor assessment and modified Ash worth scale. The results were the same for both MMT and TMT for upper limb rehabilitation. In 2018 Yumi Ju et al. Conducted study in the Korea to examine the effectiveness of mirror therapy and constrained induced movement therapy for the rehabilitation of the upper extremity for daily life activities. 28 subjects were randomly placed to a weekly session of 5 days and for consecutive 3 weeks. Performance was measured by Manual Function Test (MFT) and Modified Barthel Index(BI) to find the factor which is affecting the activities of daily livings. They concluded that patients actively participate in activities of daily livings by actively moving their affected. Previous researches based on the effectiveness of mirror therapy and constrained induced movement therapy alone or combined with other rehabilitative therapies for improving upper limb rehabilitation in different patients having neurological impairments. Their outcomes were evaluated on different outcome measurement tools and their were significant improvement in patients functional independence and had good quality of life.