Objective:To investigate the influence of hand dominance on the maintenance of gains after
home-based modified constraint-induced movement therapy (mCIMT). Method:Aprevious randomized controlled trial was conducted to examine the addition of
trunk restraint to the mCIMT. Twenty-two chronic stroke survivors with mild to
moderate motor impairments received individual home-based mCIMT with or without
trunk restraints, five times per week, three hours daily over two weeks. In this
study, the participants were separated into dominant group, which had their
paretic upper limb as dominant before the stroke (n=8), and non-dominant group
(n=14) for analyses. The ability to perform unimanual tasks was measured by the
Wolf Motor Function Test (WMFT) and the Motor Activity Log (MAL),
whereas the capacity to perform bimanual tasks was measured using the Bilateral
Activity Assessment Scale (BAAS). Results:Analysis revealed significant positive effects on the MAL amount of use and
quality of the movement scales, as well as on the BAAS scores after intervention,
with no differences between groups. Both groups maintained the bimanual
improvements during follow-ups (BAAS-seconds 0.1, 95% CI -10.0 to 10.0), however
only the dominant group maintained the unilateral improvements (MAL-amount of use:
1.5, 95% CI 0.7 to 2.3; MAL-quality: 1.3, 95% CI 0.5 to 2.1). Conclusions:Upper limb dominance did not interfere with the acquisition of upper limb skills
after mCIMT. However, the participants whose paretic upper limb was dominant
demonstrated better abilities to maintain the unilateral gains. The bilateral
improvements were maintained, regardless of upper limb dominance.