Effects of Three-Jaw Grip and Tip Pinch Training Combined with Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation on Hand Strengthening in Patients with Stroke

Abstract

Background/Objectives: The purpose of this study was to find out effects of hand dexterity used to 5Hz high frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (HF-rTMS) combined with Three-jaw pinch grip exercise. Methods/Statistical analysis: 10 stroke patients were classified into the Three-jaw pinch grip with 5Hz HF-rTMS group and 3-jaw pinch grip with 5Hz Sham HF-rTMS group. Dexterity evaluation was performed by box and block test (BBT). To verify the effectiveness of high-frequency magnetic stimulation, the Mann-Whitney U test was performed for the differences between groups, and the Wilcoxon signed-rank test was performed to investigate the differences within the two groups.

Findings: As a result of this study, 5Hz HF-rTMS group and Sham 5Hz HF-rTMS group showed a statistically significant difference within the two groups(p<0.05) and between the two groups in the box and block test (p<0.05).

Improvements/Applications: Therefore, This study demonstrated that the application of 5Hz HF-rTMS was effective on the dexterity of the affected hand.