ORIGINAL ARTICLE   Free access

European Journal of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine 2020 December;56(6):706-12

DOI: 10.23736/S1973-9087.20.06311-X

Copyright © 2020 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

Predictive factors of upper limb motor recovery for stroke survivors admitted to a rehabilitation program

Jingyi WU ^{1, 2}, Jiaqi ZHANG ³, Zhongfei BAI ^{3, 4}, Song CHEN ^{1, 2}, Sufang CAI ^{1, 2} ✉

¹ Rehabilitation Hospital affiliated to Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Fuzhou, China; ² Key Laboratory of Rehabilitation Technology, Fuzhou, China; ³ Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China; ⁴ Department of Occupational Therapy, Shanghai Yang Zhi Rehabilitation Hospital (Shanghai Sunshine Rehabilitation Center), Shanghai, China

BACKGROUND: Various factors may interact with functional gains from upper limb motor training in patients with stroke.
AIM: This study aimed to explore the predictors of upper limb motor recovery in patients with stroke who were admitted to a rehabilitation program.
DESIGN: A retrospective, longitudinal observational study was conducted to evaluate the change in Fugl-Meyer assessment upper extremity Score (FMA-UE) at admission and 15 and 30 days after admission.
SETTING: Setting of the study was a rehabilitation hospital.
POPULATION: Patients received rehabilitation training during the study period.
METHODS: Demographic information and clinical factors were collected as independent variables. Longitudinal analysis of UE motor recovery measured by FMA-UE over time was performed using the mixed-effects model.
RESULTS: Data from 110 participants were included. FMA-UE score showed significant increase (β=4.12, P<0.001). Cognitive functions assessed by the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) positively correlated with the improvement in UE functions (β=0.13, P<0.001), while time since stroke negatively correlated with improvement across time (β=-0.05, P=0.019). Patients with subcortical lesions improved faster than those with mixed cortical and subcortical lesions did (difference in slope =2.83, P=0.001). Improvement in patients with moderately impaired UE motor functions was faster than in those with severely impaired UE motor functions (difference in slope =2.74, P=0.016). Severity of hemiplegia, MoCA, and time since stroke were significant predictors in multivariable, mixed-effects models.
CONCLUSIONS: Initial motor and cognitive impairments may be associated with UE motor recovery in patients admitted to a rehabilitation program.
CLINICAL REHABILITATION IMPACT: Early assessments of motor and cognitive impairments after stroke would contribute to the prediction of UE motor recovery in patients admitted to a rehabilitation program. The information would also help the stratification of patients for poststroke upper limb rehabilitation trials.

KEY WORDS: Stroke; Upper extremity; Motor skills disorders