Comparison Between Mirror Therapy and Mental Imagery in Improving Ankle Motor Recovery in Acute Stroke Patients: Experimental Study

Introduction: Stroke is the sudden loss of neurological function caused by an interruption of the blood flow to the brain. Initially, some 80% of all patients with stroke experience motor impairments of the contralateral limb, i.e hemiparesis. Mirror therapy is relatively new therapeutic intervention that focuses on moving the unimpaired limb. Likewise, another technique called Mental imagery is the cognitive rehearsal of a task in the absence of movement. Aim and Objectives: To compare mirror therapy and mental imagery in improving ankle motor recovery in acute stroke patients. Methodology: 30 stroke patients were selected in the study, and were randomly assigned into two groups. Group A i.e. Mirror Therapy group (n=15) or the Group B i.e. Mental Imagery group (n=15). Both the groups received 30 minutes of their respective therapy that is mirror therapy and mental imagery and in addition to 30 minutes of conventional therapy which included neuro developmental facilitation technique, stretching, gait training that is a total of 1 hour per day for 5 days a week for 4 weeks. Modified Ashworth Scale, 10 Meter Walk test (10MWT), Fugl-Meyer assessment Lower extremity (FMA-LE) scale were administered pre and post intervention to assess the ankle motor function. Results: Only Fugl Meyer Assessment scores on comparison between Group A (Mirror Therapy) and Group B (Mental Imagery) revealed that statistically significant improvement was found in Group B (Mental Imagery) (t-value: 2.140; p-value: .041*). Conclusion: The present study concluded that Mental Imagery proved to be more effective than Mirror Therapy in improving ankle motor recovery in acute stroke patients.