Background: Many stroke survivors experience arm and hand weakness, but there are only limited efficacious options for arm therapy available.
Objective: To assess the feasibility of unsupervised home-based use of a virtual reality device (Smart Glove) for hand rehabilitation post stroke.
Design: Prospective single-arm study consisting of a 2-week run-in phase with no device use followed by an 8-week intervention period.
Setting: Participants were recruited at the Stanford Neuroscience Outpatient Clinic.
Participants: Twenty chronic stroke patients with upper extremity impairment.
Interventions: Participants were instructed to use the Smart Glove 50 minutes per day, 5 days per week for 8 weeks.
Main outcome measures: The following outcomes were measured: (1) compliance, (2) patients' impression of the intervention, and (3) efficacy using the upper extremity Fugl-Meyer (UE-FM), the Jebsen-Taylor hand function test (JTHFT), and the Stroke Impact Scale (SIS).
Results: Of 20 participants, seven (35%) met target compliance of 40 days use, and six (30%) used the device for 20-39 days. Eighty-five percent of participants were satisfied with the therapy, with 80% reporting improvement in hand function. During the run-in phase there were no improvements in hand function. During the intervention, patients improved by a mean of 26.6 ± 48.8 seconds on the JTHFT (P = .03), by 16.1 ± 15.3 points on the hand-domain of the SIS (P < .01) and there was a trend toward improvement on the UE-FM (2.2 ± 5.5 points, P = .10).
Conclusions: Unsupervised use of the Smart Glove in the home environment may improve hand/arm function in subacute/chronic stroke patients. A randomized controlled trial is needed to confirm these results.
Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03559829.
© 2021 American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.