The effects of mirror therapy on the gait of subacute stroke patients: a randomized controlled trial

Objective: To investigate the effect of mirror therapy on the gait of patients with subacute stroke. Design: Randomized controlled experimental study. Setting: Outpatient rehabilitation hospital. Subjects: Thirty-four patients with stroke were randomly assigned to two groups: a mirror therapy group (experimental) and a control group. Interventions: The stroke patients in the experimental group underwent comprehensive rehabilitation therapy and mirror therapy for the lower limbs. The stroke patients in the control group underwent sham therapy and comprehensive rehabilitation therapy. Participants in both groups received therapy five days per week for four weeks. Main measures: Temporospatial gait characteristics, such as single stance, stance phase, step length, stride, swing phase, velocity, and cadence, were assessed before and after the four weeks therapy period. Results: A significant difference was observed in post-training gains for the single stance (10.32 SD 4.14 vs. 6.54 SD 3.23), step length (8.47 SD 4.12 vs. 4.83 SD 2.14), and stride length (17.03 SD 6.57 vs 10.54 SD 4.34) between the experimental group and the control group ( p < 0.05). However, there were no significant differences between two groups on stance phase, swing phase, velocity, cadence, and step width ( P > 0.05). Conclusion: We conclude that mirror therapy may be beneficial in improving the effects of stroke on gait ability.