Article

The aim of this study was to examine proprioceptive performance in
adults with hemiplegic cerebral palsy and the possibility that a home-based
sensorimotor training program could improve proprioceptive performance. DESIGN: This study is a preintervention/postintervention assessment of 12 adults
participating in a home-based program consisting of targeted unilateral and
bilateral reaching movements, hand manipulation tasks, tactile discrimination,
and stereognosis. It did not specifically include proprioceptive tasks. Training
sessions were 45 mins, 5 days per week, for 8 wks. Limb position sense was
assessed using three conditions: ipsilateral remembered (same arm used for
reference and matching targets), contralateral concurrent (reference arm moved
and held at target position while opposite arm matched reference position), and
contralateral remembered (reference arm moved to target position and then
returned to start position before opposite arm matching position). RESULTS: The
participants demonstrated greater absolute and constant error when the more
affected arm served as the reference arm, and matching was performed by the less
affected arm, particularly in the contralateral remembered condition. After
training, the participants demonstrated less absolute error across matching tasks
and no change in constant error. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest an important
role for the reference arm in bilateral position matching tasks and the potential
for improved proprioceptive performance after training in movement and unrelated
sensory tasks.

Langue : ANGLAIS