AUTHOR=Li Ying , Wang Qian , Liu Xiao-Ling , Hui Rong , Zhang Yin-Ping 

TITLE=Effect of the physical rehabilitation program based on self-care ability in patients with acute ischemic stroke: a quasi-experimental study

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Neurology

VOLUME=Volume 14 - 2023

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/neurology/articles/10.3389/fneur.2023.1181651

DOI=10.3389/fneur.2023.1181651

ISSN=1664-2295

ABSTRACT=Introduction: It is the most practical goal of limb rehabilitation for stroke patients to make the upper limb, trunk and lower limb joints link together as a whole and restore the ability of self-care. However, many previous studies focused on the single joint or single muscle group movement of stroke patients, and did not integrate self-care ability training into the whole process of rehabilitation, which lacks accuracy, integrity and systematization.
Methods: A quasi-experimental study was conducted in a tertiary hospital. Eligible patients were recruited according to the inclusion criteria and exclusion criteria, and then divided into experimental group (n=80) and control group (n=80) by the medical district. The control group received the routine physical rehabilitation intervention. The experimental group adopted the physical rehabilitation program based on self-care ability led by the nurses specializing in stroke rehabilitation to carry out the multi-joint coordinated exercise on the basis of the control group. The training time and frequency were the same in both groups (45 minutes per session, one sessions per day for three consecutive months). Primary outcomes was myodynamia. Secondary outcomes were the modified Barthel Index (MBI) and Stroke Specific Quality of Life Scale (SS-QOL). The primary and secondary outcomes be assessed before the intervention and at 1 and 3 months of intervention. In this study, the TREND checklist was followed for non-randomised controlled trials.
Results: 160 participants completed the study. The physical rehabilitation program based on self-care ability was better than the routine rehabilitation program. With the prolongation of intervention time, all outcomes improved gradually in the experimental group (P < 0.05), and the myodynamia of lower limbs recovered faster than that of upper limbs. In the control group, the myodynamia of the affected limb was not significantly improved (P > 0.05), only a small increased in MBI and SS-QOL scores (P < 0.05). 
Conclusion: The physical rehabilitation program based on self-care ability after stroke was beneficial for AIS patients and improved the patient's myodynamia, quality of life and self-care ability within the third month.