Homecare and Hospital Stroke Therapy Comparison Using EEG Analysis

According to WHO data, stroke ranks second as a non-communicable disease that causes death, and ranks third as a cause of disability. Stroke causes serious neurological disorders, such as reduced motor skills of limbs and muscles, cognitive, visual and coordination significantly. The process of monitoring motor coordination function in stroke rehabilitation is generally in the form of observing movement abilities. This technique has lower quantifiable accuracy. Therefore, it is important to use objective approaches to obtain the appropriate diagnosis for effective rehabilitation process. Recently EEG has been used as a tool for monitoring stroke rehabilitation especially for motor coordination functions. Moreover, due to COVID-19 pandemic, it was reported by WHO that there was a significant decrease in visits of stroke patients to hospitals. Delay in the stroke therapy process could increase patient morbidity and mortality. Based on those reasons, home care stroke therapy then becomes an alternative solution. This research evaluates the effectiveness of home care stroke therapy compared to hospital care by using EEG. In order to determine the effectiveness of one therapy, a hypothesis T-test was calculated between the two methods. The EEG from C3 and C4 channels of 6 stroke patients when performing 8 times of rehabilitation program were compared. The motion that was tested is shoulder flexion extension on the affected upper limb from each patient. EEG preprocessing was done by applying Infinite Impulse Response for band pass filter and then Automatic Artifact Removal and Independent Component Analysis for artifact removal. Standard deviation (STD) values were calculated and analyzed for every patient in each rehabilitation program. The result shows that the STD value from home care therapy shows more increase compared to those who did the therapy at the hospital. The t-statistical value of the low alpha amplitude between homecare and hospital therapy also shows that there is a significant difference in the results of therapy carried out at home compared to in the hospital. From this result we conclude that stroke home care therapy in the new normal era is more effective compared to hospital care therapy for stroke patients.