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Background:Post-stroke hemiplegic patients of chronic phase often have troubles with their activities of daily life, because of the decrease in upper-limb joint range of motion and the pain of shoulder.Aim:To use a hair-brushing movement intervention with the assistance of a nurse as therapy for increasing the upper-limb joint range of motion in the acute phase in patients with hemiplegia following their first stroke.Method:This study analysed a control group and an intervention group of 26 patients each. The first measurements were made 1–2 days after stroke onset and again on the sixth day from the first measurements. The intervention comprised hair-brushing movements made by patients with the assistance of a nurse. Six joint movement angles were measured on the affected and unaffected sides.Results:Compared with the control group, the intervention group showed a significantly increased (p=0.002) passive joint range of motion in shoulder abduction and external rotation movements on the affected side.Conclusion:Hair-brushing intervention with assistance from nurses increased the joint range of motion of shoulder abduction and external rotation movements.

Objective: To investigate the effects of nurse-led exercise interventions, in addition to standard rehabilitation, on patients suffering from hemiplegia soon after stroke onset.Methods: Interventions involved a series of hip bridges. Efficacy was evaluated by monitoring leg muscle mass. Participants were divided into control, intervention and terminated intervention groups. In addition to standard rehabilitation, the intervention group performed a series of hip bridges once a day. Leg muscle mass was evaluated using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). Measurements were taken 3–5 days after stroke onset, then again 7 days after initial measurement.Results: During the first week, the mean decrease in leg muscle mass on the paralyzed side was 417 g (7%) for the control group, 304 g (6%) for the terminated intervention group and 108 g (2%) for the intervention group. Only the difference between control and intervention groups was significant (P=0.008).Conclusions: Exercise interventions comprising a series of hip bridges soon after stroke onset, in addition to standard rehabilitation, can reduce leg muscle atrophy on the paralyzed side in stroke patients.