Method: A quasi-experimental study was conducted using 254 first-year medical students with no prior exposure to the lecture topic during the 2016/17 and 2017/18 academic sessions. The students from each batch were divided into two groups and exposed to different video material. Group A watched an action movie, while Group B watched an educational video related to the lecture topic. After 15 min, both groups attended a lecture on the gross anatomy of the heart, which was delivered by a qualified anatomist. At the end of the lecture, their understanding of the material was measured through a post-lecture test using ten vetted multiple choice true/false questions.
Results: Group B's test scores were found to be significantly higher than Group A's (p > 0.001, t-stats [df] = -4.21 [252]).
Conclusion: This study concluded that the pre-lecture activity had successfully provided the students with some prior knowledge of the subject before they attended the lecture sessions. This finding was aligned with cognitive load theory, which describes a reduction in learners' cognitive load when prior knowledge is stimulated.
METHODS: Twenty stroke patients from conventional rehabilitation (CR) (n = 10) and RR (n = 10) groups were recruited through a purposive sampling method. Patients in the CR group received a two-hour session of a five-day-a-week home-based CR program for 4 weeks. Patients in the RR group received a five-day-a-week of an hour combined physiotherapy and occupational therapy session and a one-hour robotic therapy session using the HAL® Cyberdyne lower-limb, for 4 weeks. The mid-thigh circumferences of both limbs were measured on day 1 (baseline), week 2 and week 4 of rehabilitation program.
RESULTS: The results revealed no statistically significant difference in the mid-thigh circumferences between the paretic (F1.05,9.44 = 1.96, p = 0.20), and the normal (F1.05,9.44 = 1.96, p = 0.20) sides in the CR group (n = 10). For the comparison between the paretic and normal sides in the RR group (n = 10), the paretic mid-thigh circumferences revealed significant time effect results (F2,18 = 11.91, p = 0.001), which were due to changes between baseline and week 2, and baseline and week 4 measurements. Interestingly, the normal mid-thigh circumferences also revealed a significant time effect (F2,18 = 6.56, p = 0.007), which is due to changes between baseline and week 4. One-way analysis of variance was employed to compare the mean average between groups due to the difference in the baseline measurements of the mid-thigh circumferences between the paretic side of the CR and the RR groups. With this adjustment, the average means mid-thigh circumferences after 4 weeks of therapy were shown to be significantly different between the CR and RR groups (F1,18 = 12.49, p = 0.02).
CONCLUSION: Significant increments in the mid-thigh circumferences following RR were seen in the paretic limbs of stroke patients. Hence, this study may provide some insights into further potential research related to the benefits of RR in stroke patients.