Most Proposed Topic :
Healthcare Advances, Research and Innovations (new projects / technology)
Proposed Topic (Second preferred): :
Research and Innovations (new projects / technology / innovations / service models)
Authors: (including presenting author): :
Chan KC(1), Lam WY (1), Cheung KW (1), Mok WS (1), Lee HS (1), Hui N (1)
Affiliation: :
(1) Occupational Therapy Department, United Christian Hospital
Introduction: :
CVA is one of the leading causes of permanent functional disabilities. Conventional Occupational Therapy (OT) training is performed in a uni-directional way and is labor-intensive. Patients may easily experience boredom while therapists require close monitoring, resulting in limited compliance and cost-ineffectiveness. “Smart OT Rehabilitation” refers to a bilateral way of rehabilitation utilizing smart and advanced technologies. Patients are able to learn and practice skills continuously through instant feedback provided and training content can be adjusted according to their need. This reduces therapists’ workload by automating some of the tasks which are previously done manually. Therapists can focus more on complex tasks which require their expertise, while still ensuring patients are receiving the training. “Smart OT Rehabilitation” is thus more individualized, meaningful and less labor-intensive.
Objectives: :
“Smart OT Rehabilitation Program” aims at investigating the effectiveness of using additional smart and advanced rehabilitation training devices, in conjunction with conventional therapy, on the upper limb function and functional recovery of CVA patients.
Methodology: :
“Smart OT Rehabilitation Program” mainly utilized various technology-assisted rehabilitation and non-immersive Virtual Reality (VR) based training devices to provide “smart” rehabilitation to patients. This study adopted a pre-post study design. Patients with CVA and Functional Test for the Hemiplegic Upper Extremity (FTHUE) level 3 or above entering stroke rehabilitation ward during September 2022 to November 2023 were eligible for recruitment. All participants received at least ten “Smart OT rehabilitation sessions” and each session last for 45 minutes. FTHUE, power grip, lateral pinch, tripod pinch and 9 Hole Peg Test (9HPT) were selected to assess upper limb function pre and post rehabilitation program while Modified Barthel Index (MBI) and Lawton instrumental-ADL were selected to assess functional performance. All pre-post outcomes comparison were done by Pair Samples T-Test except for FTHUE, which was done by Wilcoxon Signed-Rank Test.
Result & Outcome: :
Total 21 patients with mean age 70.9 (SD=12.79) were recruited in this study without drop out. 80.95 % of the participants were diagnosed as ischemic stroke, 14.23% were hemorrhagic stroke and 4.76% were other types of stroke. The average number of sessions attended were 13.5 (SD=9.95). After program completion, improvement in upper limb function and functional performance were noted. For upper limb function, significant improvement in mean power grip by 1.95 kgf (SD=2.69, P=0.003), mean tripod pinch by 0.48 kgf (SD=0.67, P=0.004), mean 9HPT speed by 15.82 seconds (SD=26.05, P=0.011) were noted. Significant improvement was also found in FTHUE level (P=0.027), in which 50% of those cases showed three or four-level of improvement. For functional performance, significant improvement in mean MBI by 22 scores (SD=10.27, P=0.000) and mean Lawton-iADL by 5.14 scores (SD=2.71, P=0.000) were found. In conclusion, “Smart OT Rehabilitation” definitely created a win-win situation. Not only did it enhance the functional outcomes of patients, but also improved rehabilitation efficiency by automating some of the tasks which are previously done by therapists manually. “Smart OT Rehabilitation” will definitely be the future trend of rehabilitation, yet a larger population with control group is suggested for future study.
