Effect of neurocognitive rehabilitation on upper limb function in community-dwelling chronic stroke patients: A pilot study

Background: Although it has been reported that neurocognitive rehabilitation is effective for improving upper limb function in acute and subacute stroke patients, its effectiveness has not been clarified in community-dwelling chronic stroke patients. Objective: To examine the effect of neurocognitive rehabilitation on upper limb function in community-dwelling chronic stroke patients. Methods: Eight community-dwelling chronic stroke patients participated in the study. The mean period from the stroke onset to the start of the intervention was 425.3 days (approximately 14 months post-stroke). All patients received neurocognitive rehabilitation for 60 min, twice per week, for 3 months. Fugl-Meyer Assessments (FMA) were performed, and the amount of use (AOU) and quality of movement (QOM) of the Motor Activity Log (MAL) were measured before and after the intervention. We used the Wilcoxon signed-rank test to analyze the data. Results: The total, shoulder/elbow/forearm, and wrist scores of the FMA, MAL-AOU, and MAL-QOM significantly improved after the intervention compared to those before the intervention. However, significant improvement was not observed in the hand score of the FMA. Conclusion:Neurocognitive rehabilitation could be effective for improving upper limb function in community-dwelling chronic stroke patients.