The comparison between unilateral and bilateral movement training on upper limb function in hemiplegic patients

Background: Bilateral activities are novel methods which are used for refreshing hemiplegic patients. But there are a lot of controversies regarding their efficiency. The aim of this study is to compare the effects of unilateral with bilateral arm training on upper arm function in patients with hemiplegic disorders.

Methods: In a clinical trial 23 hemiplegic patients were selected for the study using available sampling procedure. Then they were divided into two groups of unilateral (12) and bilateral (11) employing random assignment. The treatment included 8 weeks and each week consisted of three one-hour sessions. It also included 10 designed exercises based on function improvement periods in Brunnstrom´s stages of function recovery which were designed according to day life of patient. Patients were assessed using (FMUMFA) pre and post intervention test.  

Results: Both groups had significant improvements on the upper limb function (p=0.001, p<0.05), but no significant differences were found in improvement of the upper limb functions between unilateral and bilateral training groups.

Conclusion: Although both unilateral and bilateral movement training interventions were effective in upper limb function, bilateral training had no more effective function compared with unilateral training.