To assess the pertinence of actimeters (Actisleep^®) in verifying patients’ compliance to the constraint induced movement therapy (CIMT).

First we assessed initial motors potentials by using the actimeter on healthy upper limbs and damaged ones. This was carried out before the CIMT program. This initial phase defines the activity temporal asymmetry between the damaged and healthy side. The patients are assessed again over two weeks during CIMT. The activity reduction of the healthy side allows us to evaluate the patients’ commitment and motivation. For obvious reasons, all subjects with low compliance were excluded. During the final phase, after 4 weeks of CIMT, the actimeters was kept in place for an extra week in order to observe the treatments’ efficiency. So, we can now quantify the new balance of bimanuality.

In this study, we recruited seven patients. Six of them showed a compliance of 20 to 60%. The last patient was excluded for non-compliance to the protocol. The six subjects showed evidence of a higher level of activation of the injured side.

This preliminary study shows that actimeters allow to verify patients’ compliance to CIMT and also to quantify the efficiency of the treatment after it ends.