Effect of Bilateral TENS With TOT on Upper Limb Function in Patients With Chronic Stroke

FMA-UE was used for evaluating the upper limb motor control from proximal to distal part of the limb, and voluntary movement from synergistic to isolated in people with stroke. The FMA-UE has shoulder-arm, wrist, hand and coordination and speed subsections. The score of shoulder-arm, wrist, hand and coordination and speed sub-scale are combined to compute the total score. The maximum total score is 66, with 33 items and ordinal scoring from 0 to 2. A higher score of FMA-UE indicated a higher level of upper limb motor control.

Jacket Test is one of the items in the Physical Performance Test. The subject is required to don a jacket or a cardigan sweater such that it is straight on his or her shoulders, and then remove it completely. The time for completing the task is recorded.(Rueben DB et al, 1990) This Jacket Test (JT) can be used to evaluate the functional mobility of the upper limbs as the test involves abduction of the shoulder joint, flexion and extension of the elbow joint and gripping with the hands.

The force data would be recorded by the self-made load cell. And the mean value peak torque of the joint would be calculated by the force and the length from the wrist joint to the head of 3rd metacarpal.

ARAT will be used to assess the 4 aspects of upper limb function(grasp, grip, pinch and gross arm movement). This scale is consistent of 19 items. The quality of performance on each item is rated from 0-3, so the score of ARAT is ranged from 0-57. The score of rasp, grip, pinch and gross arm movement sub-scale are combined to compute the total score. The scores for the 15 tasks will be summed and then averaged to yield the mean functional ability score. A higher ARAT score indicated a higher upper limb motor function.

With 0° shoulder flexion and 90° elbow flexion, the forearm and wrist will be placed in a neutral position in the relaxed phase. When the task begins, the subjects will be asked to perform the full range of motion for wrist flexion/extension. With 90° shoulder flexion and 0° elbow flexion, the forearm will be placed in a neutral position in the relaxed phase. When the task begins, the subjects will be asked to perform the full range of motion for elbow flexion/extension.

All the subjects will be requested to perform their joint ROM to the best of their abilities.

The MAL questionnaire will be used to assess how frequently and how well a person uses the paretic upper limb in 30 activities of daily life in a semi-structured interview. Based on a six-point ordinal scale, subjects will be required to rate (1) the amount of use (AOU), and (2) the quality of movement (QOM) when performing these 30 tasks in real life situations. Each task was rated from 0 to 5. The score of the 30 activities of daily life were combined to compute the total score of MAL-AOU and MAL-QOM, respectively. Hence, the total score of AOU and QOM component were rated from 0 to 150. The higher MAL-AOU score indicated a higher frequency use of the paretic upper limb, and the higher MAL-QOM score indicated a higher movement quality of the paretic upper limb.

The Chinese version of CIM was used to assess the level of community integration of the subjects. The CIM-C has been shown to have good internal consistency and good test-retest reliability for people with stroke . CIM has 10 items, each item rate from 1-5, giving a minimum score of 10 to a maximum of 50. A higher score indicated a higher level of community integration.

EMG signal of Radial Carpi Extensor and Ulnar Carpi Flexor for both affected and unaffected side would be recorded by the surface EMG electrodes when asked the subjects to perform the MVC of wrist extension and flexion for 5s in each trial. Each movement would perform 3 times. The data of the 3 trials will be averaged. The co-contraction ratio would be calculated by the iEMG area of antagonist to total (agonist+antagonist), which would be captured for 0.5s from the window began at 0.25s before and ended at 0.25s after the peak value of MVC.