Objective To investigate the effect a supination splint would have on upper limb function of cerebral palsy children for six months after receiving Botox® injections. Design Ten children attending weekly therapy enrolled in this prospective Quasi-experimental design where each child acted as his own control. Intervention was a supination splint and stretch massage. Assessment was based on pre- and post-intervention records of Modified Ashworth Scale, goniometry, Quality of Upper Extremity Skills Test (QUEST), and an independent panel assessment of videotaped records of hand function. Results Results show that spasticity declined in the forearm pronators, wrist flexors and thumb adductors. Active movement improved significantly in forearm supination and wrist extension. The QUEST demonstrated a significant change. Improvement in the hand function assessment was evident from the second month. Conclusion Findings support the premise that the supination splint is effective in improving upper limb function of cerebral palsy children after Botox® injections. / Dissertation (M (Occupational Therapy))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Occupational Therapy / M (Occupational Therapy) / unrestricted

Background: Parkinson's disease (PD) is a debilitating progressive neurological disorder. The main clinical features of PD are: rigidity, bradykinesia, akinesia, and resting tremor. People living with PD often present with impaired gross- and fine upper-limb motor control and ocular tracking. The impaired motor control associated with PD results in difficulty performing basic- and instrumental activities of daily living (BADLs and IADLs). Virtual reality (VR) therapy is an emerging treatment strategy used to address movement impairment in people with neurological diseases, but has not been extensively researched in the rehabilitation of people with PD. This study aimed to determine the effectiveness of VR therapy as a treatment modality for the rehabilitation of upper-limb function during BADLs and IADLs and ocular tracking for people with PD, when compared to conventional physiotherapy. Methods: A single blind randomised control trial was done. Participants were randomly allocated to either the conventional therapy (control) or VR therapy (experimental) groups using the concealed opaque envelope method. Twenty-two participants who gave informed consent were included, if they met the following criteria: Confirmed PD diagnoses; scored above 24/30 for the Mini Mental State Examination; and did not suffer from uncontrolled co-morbid diseases. The control- and experimental groups underwent twelve intervention session of 45 minutes. The control group participated in conventional physiotherapy sessions and the experimental group used the X-box Kinect© VR apparatus during treatment. Participants were assessed at baseline and post-intervention (directly following the 12 session) with the: 9 Hole Peg Test (9HPT), Test d'Evaluation des Membres Superieurs De Personnes Agees (TEMPA) and the King Devick Test. Results: The TEMPA was used to determine unilateral- and bilateral upper-limb function during IADLs and BADLs. Three of the four items of the TEMPA that assessed bilateral upper-limb function indicated statistically significant improvement when the difference between the control and experimental groups were compared post-intervention (Task1 p=0.611; Task 2 p=0.0043; Task 3 p=0.0078; Task 4 p=0.0002). Similarly, three of the four items of the TEMPA that assessed unilateral upper-limb function indicated statistically significant improvement for the experimental group, when compared to the control- group post-intervention (Task 5 p=0.0151; Task 6 p=0.4118; Task 7 p=0.0064; Task 8 p=0.0009). The 9HPT assessed in-hand manipulation and fine upper-limb function. Results from the 9HPT for the left- and right hands of both groups showed clinically significant improvements from baseline to post-intervention, but there was no statistically significant difference between the two groups. The King Devick test was used to assess ocular tracking. The comparison of change between the two groups from baseline to post-intervention on the King Devick did not indicate clinically- or statistically significant change. Discussion and Conclusion: The findings from the bilateral IADL and BADL tasks as measured with the TEMPA are similar to findings in the literature. The results show that VR therapy improve motor control of the upper-limb significantly when both hands work together and when the upper-limbs are moving unilaterally. VR therapy might be more effective than conventional physiotherapy because it allowed for repetitive practice of functional activities, which aided the development of limb control and functional muscle strength. The VR therapy also allowed task-oriented training to occur repetitively. Task-oriented training is known to aid neural plasticity and facilitate functional rehabilitation. The insignificant differences between the groups on the 9HPT is an indication that the task performed for this outcome measure is not specific enough to detect hand function and grip strength. The King Devick test did not indicate change for the control- or experimental groups, which indicates that specific ocular tracking exercises should be included in therapy to address this impairment. / Dissertation (MPhysiotherapy)--University of Pretoria, 2016. / Physiotherapy / MPhysiotherapy / Unrestricted

Title: Effect of robot-assisted therapy on upper limb function in activities of daily living in patients after acquired brain injury Aims: The main aim of the thesis was to evaluate and compare the effectiveness of two therapeutic approaches using robot-assisted glove Gloreha Sinfonia to perform Activity of daily living in patients after acquired brain injury. Methods: The study is an empirical quantitative research, a monocentric randomized controlled, simply blinded study. The study compares two groups, group A (n = 20) used a robot-assisted Gloreha glove with a bimanual approach, group B (n = 20) had therapy with a robot-assisted Gloreha glove with an unimanual approach. All patients were evaluated for eligibility and underwent initial testing (T1). Patients in both groups had therapy (unimanual / bimanual) for three weeks (15x), retest (T2) was performed after completion of the intervention, and a follow-up evaluation was performed after 1 month (T3). Patients were always evaluated by the Upper Extremity Motor Activity Log (UE MAL), Motor Assessment Scale (MAS), Action Research Arm Test (ARAT), Box and Block test (BBT) and Motricity Index (MI). Results: According to the results of the MAS test in group A, there was a statistically significant improvement in upper limb function in category 8 at...