Robot-assisted rehabilitation resulted in some improvements in motor function and quality of life for patients with chronic disability following stroke, a randomized trial showed.
Significant gains in both basic motor function (P=0.02) and the time to complete everyday tasks (P=0.005) were observed in the robot-assisted group at 36 weeks compared with usual care, the researchers reported online in the New England Journal of Medicine.
This despite the fact that on the primary endpoint -- determined at 12 weeks, immediately after rehabilitation ended -- motor function was not significantly improved in the robot-assisted group, according to Albert Lo, MD, PhD, of the Providence Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Rhode Island, and colleagues.
The findings "provide evidence of potential long-term benefits of rehabilitation and challenge the widely held clinical belief that gains in motor function are not possible for long-term stroke survivors," Lo and his colleagues wrote.
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