Effect of Mirror Therapy on Active Rang of Motion of Wrist Extension and upper limb function in Children Aged 9-14 Years Old with Hemiplegic Cerebral Palsy

Document Type : Original article

Authors

1 exeptional education

2 PhD in Occupational Therapy, Associated Professor Department of Occupational Therapy, School of Rehabilitation, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

10.22037/sjrm.2026.117551.3436

Abstract

Background and Aims: Mirror therapy using visual feedback has emerged as a promising treatment for children with cerebral palsy, and its therapeutic effects on the upper limbs of children with hemiplegic cerebral palsy are still under investigation. This study aimed to investigate the effect of mirror therapy on wrist extension range of motion and upper limb function in children with hemiplegic cerebral palsy.

Materials and Methods: In this single-blind clinical trial study, 30 children with hemiplegic cerebral palsy in the age range of 9-14 years were selected based on the inclusion criteria and randomly divided into two intervention and control groups. The usual occupational therapy program was performed for both groups. In addition, the intervention group underwent mirror therapy for 6 weeks, three days a week. Before and after the intervention, wrist extension range of motion was measured with a goniometer and upper limb motor function was measured with the Fugl- Meyer. The data were analyzed by t-test.

Results: analysis of the data showed that the difference between the mean scores obtained from the evaluation of upper limb function and active range of motion of wrist extension in the mirror therapy group was significantly higher than the mean difference in the control group (P<0.05).

Conclusion: It seems that, mirror therapy in the children with hemiplegic is useful in improving of upper limb function and in order to prove this, more studies are required with a larger sample size.

Keywords: Hemiplegic cerebral palsy, Mirror therapy, Upper limb function

Keywords

Main Subjects

The Scientific Journal of Rehabilitation Medicine

Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 19 April 2026

Files

History

  • Receive Date: 25 December 2025
  • Revise Date: 24 February 2026
  • Accept Date: 19 April 2026
  • First Publish Date: 19 April 2026

Share

How to cite

Statistics