Expansion of daily life and work tasks through functional splints that support the pinching of the thumb and index finger of the paralyzed side: A case study

Abstract

A 40-year-old female patient with left hemiplegia, who had trouble pinching her thumb and index finger of the paralyzed side was treated using a functional splint during outpatient occupational therapy. The Motor Activity Log (MAL) at the initial assessment had an Amount of Use (AOU) score of 0 and a Quality of Movement (QOM) score of 0. The patient underwent outpatient occupational therapy for 9 months and routinely wore a functional splint to perform various daily tasks; during the final assessment, her MAL( AOU/QOM) scores improved to 1.25. The results indicate that an intervention focused on daily life can lead to an expansion of the performable tasks.