Effectiveness of Adjunct Robotic Therapy With a Patient-Guided Suspension System for Stroke Rehabilitation Using a 7-Days-a-Week Model of Care: A Comparison With Conventional Rehabilitation

OBJECTIVE: To determine and compare the effectiveness of robotic therapy with a patient-guided suspension system for stroke rehabilitation using a 7-days-a-week model of care with that of conventional rehabilitation. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study. SETTING: Inpatient rehabilitation unit of an acute general hospital. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 100 consecutive patients with stroke (N=100) admitted within a 7-month period who fulfilled the criteria to undergo robotic therapy with a patient-guided suspension system were enrolled in this study. INTERVENTIONS: Patients either underwent robotic therapy in addition to conventional therapy (robotic group) or conventional therapy only (control group). There were 50 patients in each cohort. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: FIM and its derivatives (FIM gain and FIM efficiency); Berg Balance Scale (BBS), functional ambulation category (FAC); modified Rankin Scale (mRS); and National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale. RESULTS: The average FIM gains in both groups were statistically significant (P<.01). The robotic group had greater improvement in FAC scores (1.24 vs 0.78, P=.007). However, other measurements such as FIM efficiency, BBS, and mRS were not significantly different between the 2 groups. The robotics group reported high patient satisfaction rates, with most patients finding the intervention both beneficial and desirable. CONCLUSIONS: Adjunct robotic therapy has the potential to increase the efficacy of stroke rehabilitation. However, further studies are needed to strengthen the evidence.