Objective:

We aimed to interrogate the effects of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) on the performance in activities of daily living (ADL) and attention function after stroke.

Design:

Randomized controlled trial.

Setting:

Inpatient rehabilitation hospital.

Subjects:

We randomized 62 stroke patients with attention dysfunction who were randomly assigned into two groups, and two dropped out from each group. The TMS group (n = 29) and a sham group (n = 29), whose mean (SD) was 58.12 (6.72) years. A total of 33 (56.9%) patients had right hemisphere lesion while the rest 25 (43.1%) patients had left hemisphere lesion.

Interventions:

Patients in the TMS group received 10 Hz, 700 pulses of TMS, while those in the sham group received sham TMS for four weeks. All the participants underwent comprehensive cognitive training.

Main measures:

At baseline, and end of the four-week treatment, the performance in the activities of daily living was assessed by Functional Independence Measure (FIM). On the other side, attention dysfunction was screened by Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), while the attention function was assessed by the Trail Making Test-A (TMT-A), Digit Symbol Test (DST) and Digital Span Test (DS).

Results:

Our data showed a significant difference in the post-treatment gains in motor of Functional Independence Measure (13.00 SD 1.69 vs 4.21 SD 2.96), cognition of Functional Independence Measure (4.69 SD 1.56 vs 1.52 SD 1.02), total of Functional Independence Measure (17.69 SD 2.36 vs 5.72 SD 3.12), Mini-Mental State Examination (3.07 SD 1.36 vs 1.21 SD 0.62), time taken in Trail Making Test-A (96.67 SD 25.18 vs 44.28 SD 19.45), errors number in Trail Making Test-A (2.72 SD 1.03 vs 0.86 SD 1.03), Digit Symbol Test (3.76 SD 1.09 vs 0.76 SD 0.87) or Digital Span Test (1.69 SD 0.54 vs 0.90 SD 0.72) between the TMS group and the sham group (P < 0.05).

Conclusions:

Taken together, we demonstrate that TMS improves the performance in the activities of daily living and attention function in patients with stroke.