The Effect of Mirror Therapy on Upper-extremity Motor Function in the Convalescent Stage after Stroke: A Subgroup Analysis by Presence of Active Affected Finger Extension

Abstract

[Purpose] To evaluate the severity of hemiparesis at which mirror therapy (MT) becomes effective for upper-extremity motor recovery of stroke patients. [Subjects and Methods] Fourteen convalescent stroke patients were randomly assigned to the MT group or control group, and the differences of the effect of MT on upper-extremity motor function between the patients who could not actively extend their fingers [(-) group] and those who could actively extend their fingers [(+) group] at pretreatment were investigated. [Results] In the (+) group, the finger motor function improved more in the MT group than in the control group. However, no significant differences were found in the motor function of the MT and control groups in the (-) group. [Conclusion] These results suggest that MT is effective for finger motor function of stroke patients who can actively extend the finger.