Effects of a Modified Constraint Induced Therapy Intervention in Stroke Patients: A Multicenter, Randomized Controlled Trial.

Constraint-Induced Movement therapy or CI therapy is a rehabilitation method, that has been shown in controlled studies to produce improvements of upper limb motor function in stroke patients. However, in the original method, 6 hours of daily training are requested, which is often impossible to apply in the majority of rehabilitation unit.

The aim of this trial is to compare the effect of a modified constraint induced therapy (90 minutes of motor training with a physical or occupational therapist and 270 minutes of self-rehabilitation) to the treatment described originally by Taub et al. (360 minutes of motor training with a physical or occupational therapist).

Patients randomly received one of the two treatment and be evaluated pre- post- and 3 months after the intervention ended. The treatment will last two weeks, five days per week. The evaluations will include clinical measure of motor function and functional MRI of the brain. The brain activity will be measure just before and after the intervention with a manual motor task in order to asses brain plasticity.