Combination Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation and Virtual Reality Therapy for Upper Extremity Training in Patients With Subacute Stroke

Objective

To investigate the effects of combination cathodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) and virtual reality (VR) therapy for upper extremity (UE) training in patients with subacute stroke.

Design

Pilot randomized controlled trial. Patients were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 groups: group A received cathodal tDCS, group B received VR, and group C received combination therapy (cathodal tDCS was simultaneously applied during VR therapy).

Setting

University hospital.

Participants

Patients (N=59) with impaired unilateral UE motor function after stroke.

Intervention

Fifteen sessions of treatment over a 3-week period.

Main Outcome Measures

The Modified Ashworth Scale, manual muscle test (MMT), Manual Function Test (MFT), Fugl-Meyer Scale (FMS), and Box and Block Test were used to assess UE function. To evaluate activities of daily living, the Korean-Modified Barthel Index (K-MBI) was used. All outcomes were measured before and immediately after treatment.

Results

After treatment, all groups demonstrated significant improvements in MMT, MFT, FMS, and K-MBI scores. The change in MFT and FMS scores was different between the 3 groups. Post hoc analysis revealed that the improvement of MFT and FMS scores in group C was significantly higher than those of the other 2 groups.

Conclusions

In the present pilot study, the combination of brain stimulation using tDCS and peripheral arm training using VR could facilitate a stronger beneficial effect on UE impairment than using each intervention alone. This combination therapy might be a helpful method to enhance recovery of the paretic UE in patients with stroke.