Influence of rehacom system programme on hand function in spastic hemiplegic children

Objectives: To assess the impact of cognitive therapy with the rehacom visual-motor module on the hand function in hemiplegic cerebral palsy children. Method: The randomised case-control study was conducted at Kafrelsheikh University, Egypt, from September 2021 to February 2022, and comprised children aged 6-8 years with spastic hemiplegic cerebral palsy. They were randomised into control group A and intervention group B. Subjects in group A received designed physical therapy and hand function training, while those in group B additionally received visual-motor coordination training with the help of rehacom system. The groups were evaluated for both visual-motor coordination and fine motor skills at baseline and after 6-month training. SPSS version 26 was used to analyse the raw data of the current study. Results: Of the 40 subjects, 20(50%) were in each of the two groups. There were 13(65%) boys and 7(35%) girls with mean age 66 +/- 4.01 months in group A, and 9(45%) boys and 11(55%) girls with mean age 67 +/- 4.06 months in group B (p>0.05). Both groups showed improvement related to grasping, visual-motor integration and fine motor quotient post-intervention, but improvement in group B was significantly higher on each count(p<0.05). Conclusion: The addition of visual-motor integration programme by rehacom system was found to be more effective than the effect of routine physiotherapy training alone.

Automated summary

This study aimed to assess the impact of cognitive therapy with the rehacom visual-motor module on hand function in children with hemiplegic cerebral palsy. The results showed that the addition of the visual-motor integration programme by the rehacom system was more effective in improving grasping, visual-motor integration, and fine motor skills compared to routine physiotherapy training alone.