EFFICACY OF TENS WITH CONVENTIONAL OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY IN IMPROVING HAND FUNCTION OF STROKE SURVIVORS

BACKGROUND AND AIM Stroke is currently the second leading cause of death and third main cause of disability throughout the world. Around 75% of stroke survivors suffered from upper limb dysfunction with limited functional activities whereas distal parts of upper extremity such as hand and forearm are mostly affected by stroke. Therefore, this study aims to determine the benefits of TENS along with conventional Occupational therapy in the rehabilitation of stroke patients to ascertain the optimal recovery of hand function. METHODOLOGY A Single-blind Randomized Controlled Trial was conducted on 76 individuals with acute phase or one-year history post-stroke. Group-A (n=38) received Low Frequency Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation on elbow and wrist extensors (3 Hz, 400 μs)along with conventional Occupational therapywhile Group-B (n=38) received conventional Occupational therapy only. Both the groups received intervention for 5 days/week of duration 45 minutes till 3 weeks. RESULTS Group-A showed significant improvement in means scores of FMA-UE and ARAT (p<0.05) in comparison to Group-B which showed moderate improvements in sensorimotor and activity capacity of hand function. CONCLUSION Conventional therapy along with TENS significantly improved the hand function in acute stroke patients as compared to the conventional therapy.