Analysis of Movement Time and Trunk Motions According to Target Distances and Use of Sound and Affected Side During Upper Limb Reaching Task in Patients With Hemiplegia
The aim of this study was to investigate effects of reaching distance on movement time and trunk kinematics in hemiplegic patients. Eight hemiplegic patients participated in this study. The independent variables were side (sound side vs. affected side) and target distance (70%, 90%, 110%, and 130% of upper limb). The dependent variables were movement time measured by pressure switch and trunk kinematics measured by motion analysis device. Two-way analysis of variance with repeated measures was used with Bonferroni post-hoc test. (1) There were significant main effects in side and reaching distance for movement time (p=.01, p=.02). Post-hoc test revealed that there was a significant difference between 110% and 130% of reaching distance (p=.01). (2) There was a significant main effect in side and reaching distance for trunk flexion (p=.01, p=.00). Post-hoc test revealed that there were significant differences in all pair-wise reaching distance comparison. (3) There was a significant side by target distance interaction for trunk rotation (p=.04). There was a significant main effect in target distance (p=.00). Post-hoc test revealed that there were significant differences between 70% and 110%, 70% and 130%, 90% and 110%, 90% and 130% of target distance. It was known that trunk flexion is used more than trunk rotation during reaching task in hemiplegic patients from the findings of this study. It is also recommended that reaching training is performed with limiting trunk movement within 90% of target distance whereas reaching training is performed incorporating with trunk movement beyond 90% of target distance in patients with hemiplegia.