Mirror therapy versus functional electrical stimulation cycling in post-stroke lower limb rehabilitation: a randomized controlled trial
Topics in Stroke Rehabilitation, 2026 (SCI-Expanded, Scopus)
- Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
- Basım Tarihi: 2026
- Doi Numarası: 10.1080/10749357.2026.2742170
- Dergi Adı: Topics in Stroke Rehabilitation
- Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus, CINAHL, EMBASE, MEDLINE, Biomedical Reference Collection: Corporate Edition (EBSCO), Health Research Premium Collection (ProQuest)
- Anahtar Kelimeler: Mirror therapy, functional electrical stimulation-assisted cycling, stroke rehabilitation, motor recovery, quality of life, task-oriented training
- Sağlık Bilimleri Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet
Özet
Background: Stroke commonly leads to lower extremity motor impairment and reduced quality of life. Adjunctive rehabilitation approaches are often required to enhance recovery during the subacute phase. Objectives: To compare the effects of mirror therapy (MT) and functional electrical stimulation-assisted cycling (FES-C) as adjuncts to conventional rehabilitation in patients with subacute stroke. Methods: Forty-five patients were randomly assigned to a control, MT, or FES-C group (n = 15 each). All participants received conventional rehabilitation, with 30 minutes replaced by MT or FES-C in the groups, 5 days per week for six weeks. Outcomes were assessed before and after treatment using the Fugl-Meyer Assessment-Lower Extremity (FMA-LE), Brunnstrom stage, Functional Independence Measure-Motor, Berg Balance Scale, Functional Ambulation Classification, and Stroke-Specific Quality of Life Scale (SS-QOL). Results: All groups showed significant within-group improvements (p < 0.05). Compared with control, both the MT (mean difference [MD] −2.60, 95% CI − 5.83 to −0.63, p = 0.004) and FES-C groups (MD − 3.00, 95% CI − 6.23 to −0.23, p = 0.008) demonstrated greater improvements in ΔFMA-LE scores. Only the FES-C group showed significantly greater gains in ΔBrunnstrom stage (MD − 0.80, 95% CI − 1.49 to −0.10, p = 0.007) and ΔSS-QOL (MD − 19.40, 95% CI − 35.70 to −3.09, p = 0.015). No significant differences were observed between MT and FES-C (p > 0.05). Conclusions: Despite the more advanced technological features of FES-C, MT also achieved improvements in lower extremity motor function, supporting its use as a simple and accessible adjunct intervention for post-stroke lower extremity rehabilitation. ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT06558721 Clinical trial registration number: The study was registered at the US National Institutes of Health (ClinicalTrials.gov) (NCT06558721) and available a https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT06558721?term=sefa%20c%C4%B1nar&rank=1.