Most stroke survivors can have persistent upper-limb impairments, which can adversely affect their quality of life, their ability to complete self-care tasks, and to remain employed. The results can lead to potential increased healthcare and societal costs.
Researchers hypothesized that a myoelectric arm orthosis may be effective in supporting the affected weak arm and increasing an individual’s use of that arm. They conducted a study to retrospectively evaluate the outcomes and clinical benefits provided by the Myomo MyoPro orthosis in individuals 65 years and older with upper-limb impairment secondary to a stroke.
Individuals with upper-limb impairment who had been fitted with a custom MyoPro and had the orthosis for at least six months were recruited nationwide from Myomo’s patient database. Nineteen people were included in the analysis.
The Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder, and Hand (DASH) questionnaire was administered to participants before and after receiving their myoelectric orthosis. A Generalized Estimating Equation model was analyzed.
After using the MyoPro, 19 individuals with chronic stroke had a mean improvement (decrease) in DASH score of 18.07, adjusted for eight covariates. This change was statistically significant and clinically meaningful as participants self-reported an improvement with engagement in functional tasks, the study’s authors wrote.
The open-access paper, “A retrospective study: Improved Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand scores after myoelectric arm orthosis use at home in chronic stroke,” was published in Prosthetics and Orthotics International.
