Background. Stroke commonly affects upper extremity motor abilities, yet there has been very limited success in developing effective\r\nrehabilitation interventions to remediate motor impairments, particularly for the upper extremity. Objective. To determine if taskoriented\r\npractice administered soon after stroke is more effective than usual care in improving poststroke upper extremity motor\r\nrecovery and to explore the optimal amount of practice. Methods. A systematic review of the literature was performed from 1950 to\r\nNovember 2012, to identify randomized controlled trials of task-oriented practice compared to usual care, or to different amounts\r\nof task-oriented practice to improve motor impairment and activity. Studies were excluded if specific types of interventions were\r\nused as comparators or if they were of poor methodological quality. Results. Six studies met the review criteria. Three of the six\r\nstudies demonstrated a statistically significant effect of task-oriented practice. Study results could not be pooled because of a lack of\r\nhomogeneity in populations and intervention. Conclusions.The results demonstrate that an increase in the amount of task-oriented\r\npractice after stroke may result in less upper extremity impairment; further research on both effect and required dosage is needed\r\nas results are inconsistent.
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