What This Means
This small trial tested whether adding a specialized strength-and-movement machine training, called isokinetic training with joint control tasks, to usual rehabilitation could help stroke survivors who have trouble sensing the position and movement of their limbs. Fifty-eight patients at one hospital in Beijing were randomly split into two groups of 29. Both groups did standard rehabilitation for four weeks, and one group also did the isokinetic training.
Both groups got better on measures of joint sensation, leg movement, balance, and daily living skills. However, the group that also received isokinetic training improved more on every one of these measures, including joint position sense, the ability to detect passive movement, balance, lower-limb motor function, and everyday activity scores.
This research suggests isokinetic joint control training could be a helpful add-on to stroke rehabilitation for people with impaired limb sensation. However, the study was small, done at a single center, and described by the authors as preliminary, so larger and more rigorous studies are needed before firm conclusions can be drawn.