Arm use in patients with subacute stroke monitored by accelerometry: Association with motor impairment and influence on self-dependence

Abstract

FMA and AMR correlated highly in the early post-stroke period. These measures relate to different dimensions of the International Classification of Functioning and Health, and could be supplementary measures to reveal non-use of the affected arm. Arm use and arm impairment were not significantly associated with self-care dependency in our sample.

Predictive value of upper-limb accelerometry in acute stroke with hemiparesis

“…Our results supplement the information of Lang et al, who investigated upper-limb activity in a rehabilitation center, and Thrane et al, who investigated patients with acute stroke albeit without a control group [24][25]. All studies, current one included, used the protocol presented by Uswatte et al [4][5][6].…”

“…This generates a high ratio for more impaired patients with stroke and a lower ratio for patients with stroke who are less affected. Therefore, the correlation between AMR and the FMA is 0.85 (p < 0.001) [25]. This correlation is higher than the correlation found in the current study (r = 0.60, p < 0.001) and higher than the correlation (r = 0.54, p < 0.001) we found in earlier research [9].…”

“…Thrane et al demonstrated that patients (n = 31) with stroke used their affected arm and unaffected arm for 3.0 ± 1.7 and 4.5 ± 1.7 h/d, respectively [25]. The decreased amount of arm use of the unaffected arm compared with the results of Lang et al is striking.…”

Predicting Daily Use of the Affected Upper Extremity 1 Year after Stroke

“…[11][12][13][14][15] Cross-sectional studies have found that early poststroke UE wrist accelerometer measures correlate to stroke severity 16 and motor impairment of the affected UE. 16,17 More so, correlations have been found between accelerometer readings to the self-report MAL (r 5 .81-.90) for 169 individuals 3-9 months after stroke. 13 In addition, accelerometer activity of the affected UE was found to be an excellent predictor for prolonged disability as assessed in 129 individuals using the modified Rankin Scale score 3 months after stroke 18 and to the Rating of Everyday Arm-Use in the Community and Home scale (r 5 .61) for 68 individuals with chronic stroke.…”

A method to qualitatively assess arm use in stroke survivors in the home environment

“…Ambulatory activities can be detected by means of accelerometry [18, 33], and upper extremity activity can be adjusted accordingly [22], but this requires additional, temporally synchronized sensors which may negatively impact patient compliance. To reject the influence of ambulatory activities, the ratio of arm use between paretic and non-paretic arm is commonly used [2, 26, 28–30]. However, ratios are a relative measure of intensity or duration of use and therefore are not suitable to capture potential changes in absolute activity or use.…”