J Bodyw Mov Ther. 2025 Dec;45:1020-1025. doi: 10.1016/j.jbmt.2025.10.030. Epub 2025 Oct 27.
ABSTRACT
PURPOSE: The study determined the impact of a six-week graded motor imagery on improving upper limb function and quality of life in individuals with subacute to chronic stroke. Graded motor imagery is based on neuroplastic mechanisms.
METHODS: In this quasi-experimental study, 20 hemiplegic participants with a three-to six-month duration of stroke were recruited. After recruitment all subjects received graded motor imagery for 6 weeks. At baseline and six weeks after the intervention, the Wolf motor function test and the Fugl-Meyer assessment scale were used for evaluation. Since data followed a normal distribution, a paired t-test was employed for statistical analysis.
RESULTS: FMA-UE showed a statistically significant improvement (p-value = 0.017) with an effect size of 0.5 following intervention. A small effect size was observed on WMFT and SS-QoL, although it was not statistically significant. The effect size for SS-QoL was 0.38, with the p-value of 0.102.
CONCLUSION: The present study showed that GMI could lead to improvements in both pain measured on FMA - UE scale and the motor abilities as measured on WMFT which may lead to improvement of upper limb functions. A small effect size was seen on the QoL scale, which concludes that a small but positive change was noted on the SS-QoL scale. Therefore the results should be interpreted carefully due to small sample size and short intervention period. Future studies with long term follow-up are required to confirm these findings.
PMID:41316552 | DOI:10.1016/j.jbmt.2025.10.030