Article

Intermanual transfer may improve prosthetic handling and acceptance
if used in training soon after an amputation. The purpose of this
study was to determine whether intermanual transfer effects can be detected after
training with a myoelectric upper-limb prosthesis simulator. DESIGN: A
mechanistic, randomized, pretest-posttest design was used. A total
of 48 right-handed participants (25 women, 23 men) who were able-bodied were
randomly assigned to an experimental group or a control group. INTERVENTION: The
experimental group performed a training program of 5 days' duration using the
prosthesis simulator. To determine the improvement in skill, a test was
administered before, immediately after, and 6 days after training. The control
group only performed the tests. Training was performed with the unaffected arm,
and tests were performed with the affected arm (the affected arm simulating an
amputated limb). Half of the participants were tested with the dominant arm and
half with the nondominant arm. MEASUREMENTS: Initiation time was defined as the
time from starting signal until start of the movement, movement time was defined
as the time from the beginning of the movement until completion of the task, and
force control was defined as the maximal applied force on a deformable object.
RESULTS: The movement time decreased significantly more in the experimental group
(F(2),(9)(2)=7.42, P=.001, eta(2)(G)=.028) when compared with the control group.
This finding is indicative of faster handling of the prosthesis. No statistically
significant differences were found between groups with regard to initiation time
and force control. We did not find a difference in intermanual transfer between
the dominant and nondominant arms. LIMITATIONS: The training utilized
participants who were able-bodied in a laboratory setting and focused only on
transradial amputations. CONCLUSIONS: Intermanual transfer was present in the
affected arm after training the unaffected arm with a myoelectric prosthesis
simulator, and this effect did not depend on laterality. This effect may improve
rehabilitation of patients with an upper-limb amputation.

Langue : ANGLAIS