Introduction:

Sequels in stroke patients include hemiparesis and dependency for performing basic activities of daily living (BADL). EMG biofeedback has yielded some benefits but has been limited to repetitive movement, therefore, it is insufficient for current task-oriented neurorehabilitation paradigms.

Objective:

To assess whether the application of EMG biofeedback in upper limbs during BADL training improves motor, occupational and satisfaction performances compared to BADL training without this feedback.

Materials and methods:

A pilot randomized clinical trial was conducted with stroke patients of more than six months of evolution, who showed hemiparesis and no cognitive deterioration. These patients were randomly classified into two groups: control group, who underwent conventional occupational therapy (COT), and experimental group, who underwent COT+EMG-BF. Patients were given 10 therapy sessions. Entry, evaluation and data analysis were masked.

Results:

Seven patients were included in each group, showing the same initial clinical and demographic characteristics (p>0.05). The group that underwent COT+EMG-BF showed a significantly better performance in all assessments. For example, the Barthel scale obtained a median of 100 points [85-100] for the COT+EMG-BF group versus 85 [80-90] for the control group (p<0.05), whereas ARAT score was 42 [40-47] points versus 20 [15-38] (p=0.03), respectively.

Conclusion:

The combination of COT+EMG-BF for BADL may be considered as an alternative for treatment of stroke patients.

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