Motor recover during the acute period of craniocerebral trauma using kinetotherapy

The aim of the present work was to assess the influences of age, gender, and the severity of brain trauma on recovery of motor function using kinetotherapy. The study included 131 patients (99 men and 32 women) investigated during the acute phase of trauma in the Department of Brain Trauma, Clinical Hospital, Kaunas Medical University. After stabilization, 80 patients were transferred to the neurorehabilitation clinic and 51 were transferred to other rehabilitation centers. Motor function in the patients was assessed using the Clinical Outcomes Variable Scale (COVS) at the beginning and end of the acute trauma period and during early rehabilitation, i.e., at the beginning, 25 days later, and on completion. During the acute trauma period, patients had impairments to the abilities to turn over, sit, maintain balance while sitting, to move horizontally and vertically, walk, and use mobility aids, along with reductions in walking duration and speed, and difficulty in wheelchair mobility and hand functions. Kinetotherapy yielded high or intermediate levels of efficacy in 90% of the patients. The efficacy of kinetotherapy was significantly greater in young patients than in elderly and old patients (p < 0.05). Gender and trauma severity had no statistically significant effects on the efficacy of kinetotherapy (p > 0.05).