Effects of constraint-induced therapy combined with eye patching on functional outcomes and movement kinematics in poststroke neglect

Abstract

OBJECTIVE. We investigated the effect of constraint-induced therapy (CIT) plus eye patching (EP), CIT alone, and conventional treatment on functional performance, eye movement, and trunk-arm kinematics in stroke patients with neglect syndrome. METHOD. Twenty-four participants were recruited and randomly allocated to three intervention groups. All participants received intervention 2 hr/day, 5 days/wk, for 3 wk. Outcome measures included the Catherine Bergego Scale, eye movement, and trunk-arm kinematic analysis. RESULTS. The CIT + EP and CIT groups demonstrated larger improvements in functional performance than the control group. The CIT group showed better performance with left fixation points than the CIT+EP group and shorter reaction time than the control group. The CIT + EP group improved more in preplanned control and leftward trunk shift than the other two groups. CONCLUSION. CIT + EP and CIT were more effective interventions than conventional treatment of patients with neglect syndrome in daily functional performance.