Effectiveness of mirror therapy in stroke rehabilitation

Abstract

Background: Stroke is the leading cause of neurological disability worldwide. It affects the motor or cognitive level and needs to be treated as early as possible. One of the therapies most commonly used to restore the sequelae of stroke is mirror therapy. Objective: To find out the effectiveness of mirror therapy in stroke rehabilitation. Method: Three databases were chosen for the search: Pubmed, Medline and Cinahl. The search equation contained three terms ("Stroke", "Treatment outcome" and "Mirror therapy") and articles were included in English. Once the reviews were excluded, the articles without access and those that do not fit the objective, we analyzed a total of 13 articles. Results: 11 of the studies are RCTs and the remaining two are pilot studies. Most of the patients were men over 60 years of age who suffered an ischaemic stroke more than 3 weeks ago. Discussion: We analysed the duration of the treatment, what it consisted of and its effects on the sequelae of the stroke that affect the functional capacities of the subjects who have suffered them. Conclusion: motor function is one of the characteristics that best responds to experimental treatment although other less evaluated variables such as balance and negligence also obtained positive results.