Evidence-based Physiotherapy Treatment for Improving Motor Function of Upper Limb for Stroke Survivors- A Systematic Review

Abstract

Background: Stroke, the second cause of mortality and the third cause of long-term disability worldwide. Mortality is declining, yet prevalence is stable that mean there are more survivors with long-term disability after stroke. Although the recovery stroke patients at an early stage depends on acute stroke care but their functional recovery and long-term health status are more affected by rehabilitation at different stages. One of the key disciplines in stroke rehabilitation is physical therapy which aimed at restoring and maintaining physical and physiological well-being of an individual. Purpose: To review most recommended physiotherapy intervention by measuring their effectiveness on motor function recovery of upper limb for the stroke patients. Method: Systematic review on stroke survivors with PEDro, Pub Med, Web of Science, Scopus Index, Cochrane library search engine (Time range January, 2012- December, 2022) followed by keywords in PICO format, Boolean operators & MeSH descriptors. Result: The author identified 8212 articles as possibly relevant during the initial searches of all selected sources. After removing the duplicate & ensuring all screening process finally identified 91 articles for inclusion within time range. Overall, the review demonstrated that the different evidence of benefit of Exercise therapy, Manual therapy, Electrotherapy, Virtual reality, Gamming or Robotic Therapy, Combination of multiple exercise and home exercise for improvement of upper limb motor function of stroke survivors Conclusion: However, the overall results showed that physical therapy-based rehabilitation training during the recovery period of stroke patients improves upper limb motor activity by reducing limb pain, increasing muscle strength that ultimately improve the quality of life. Majority of the finding supported that the interventions at different doses are more effective rather than the conventional only. Key words: Stroke survivors, Upper limb, physiotherapy, Motor recovery