PMID- 24473248
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20141029
LR  - 20220409
IS  - 1878-6448 (Electronic)
IS  - 1053-8135 (Linking)
VI  - 34
IP  - 3
DP  - 2014
TI  - Effects of the addition of transcranial direct current stimulation to virtual 
      reality therapy after stroke: a pilot randomized controlled trial.
PG  - 437-46
LID - 10.3233/NRE-141065 [doi]
AB  - BACKGROUND: Upper limb (UL) impairment is the most common disabling deficit 
      following a stroke. Previous studies have suggested that transcranial direct 
      current stimulation (tDCS) enhances the effect of conventional therapies. 
      OBJECTIVE: This pilot double-blind randomized control trial aimed to determine 
      whether or not tDCS, combined with Wii virtual reality therapy (VRT), would be 
      superior to Wii therapy alone in improving upper limb function and quality of 
      life in chronic stroke individuals. METHODS: Twenty participants were randomly 
      assigned either to an experimental group that received VRT and tDCS, or a control 
      group that received VRT and sham tDCS. The therapy was delivered over 15 sessions 
      with 13 minutes of active or sham anodal tDCS, and one hour of virtual reality 
      therapy. The outcomes included were determined using the Fugl-Meyer scale, the 
      Wolf motor function test, the modified Ashworth scale (MAS), grip strength, and 
      the stroke specific quality of life scale (SSQOL). Minimal clinically important 
      differences (MCID) were observed when assessing outcome data. RESULTS: Both 
      groups demonstrated gains in all evaluated areas, except for the SSQOL-UL domain. 
      Differences between groups were only observed in wrist spasticity levels in the 
      experimental group, where more than 50% of the participants achieved the MCID. 
      CONCLUSIONS: These findings support that tDCS, combined with VRT therapy, should 
      be investigated and clarified further.
FAU - Viana, R T
AU  - Viana RT
AD  - Department of Physical Therapy, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Recife, 
      Pernambuco, Brazil.
FAU - Laurentino, G E C
AU  - Laurentino GE
AD  - Department of Physical Therapy, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Recife, 
      Pernambuco, Brazil.
FAU - Souza, R J P
AU  - Souza RJ
AD  - Department of Physical Therapy, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Recife, 
      Pernambuco, Brazil.
FAU - Fonseca, J B
AU  - Fonseca JB
AD  - Department of Physical Therapy, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Recife, 
      Pernambuco, Brazil.
FAU - Silva Filho, E M
AU  - Silva Filho EM
AD  - Department of Physical Therapy, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Recife, 
      Pernambuco, Brazil.
FAU - Dias, S N
AU  - Dias SN
AD  - Department of Physical Therapy, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Recife, 
      Pernambuco, Brazil.
FAU - Teixeira-Salmela, L F
AU  - Teixeira-Salmela LF
AD  - Department of Physical Therapy, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo 
      Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
FAU - Monte-Silva, K K
AU  - Monte-Silva KK
AD  - Department of Physical Therapy, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Recife, 
      Pernambuco, Brazil.
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
PT  - Randomized Controlled Trial
PT  - Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
PL  - Netherlands
TA  - NeuroRehabilitation
JT  - NeuroRehabilitation
JID - 9113791
SB  - IM
MH  - Activities of Daily Living
MH  - Aged
MH  - Combined Modality Therapy/methods
MH  - Double-Blind Method
MH  - *Electric Stimulation Therapy
MH  - Female
MH  - Humans
MH  - Male
MH  - Middle Aged
MH  - Muscle Spasticity/rehabilitation
MH  - Pilot Projects
MH  - Quality of Life
MH  - Recovery of Function/physiology
MH  - *Stroke Rehabilitation
MH  - Treatment Outcome
MH  - *Upper Extremity
MH  - *Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy
OTO - NOTNLM
OT  - Virtual reality therapy
OT  - non-invasive brain stimulation
OT  - rehabilitation
OT  - stroke
OT  - transcranial stimulation
OT  - wii gaming system
EDAT- 2014/01/30 06:00
MHDA- 2014/10/30 06:00
CRDT- 2014/01/30 06:00
PHST- 2014/01/30 06:00 [entrez]
PHST- 2014/01/30 06:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2014/10/30 06:00 [medline]
AID - X258780456T57637 [pii]
AID - 10.3233/NRE-141065 [doi]
PST - ppublish
SO  - NeuroRehabilitation. 2014;34(3):437-46. doi: 10.3233/NRE-141065.