Changes in the Activity Measure for Post-Acute Care Domains in Persons With Stroke During the First Year After Discharge From Inpatient Rehabilitation

Effects of eccentric strength training on motor function in individuals with stroke: a scoping review

BACKGROUND

Preliminary evidence suggests that eccentric strength training (ECC) improves muscle strength and postural control in individuals with stroke; however, the evidence about the effects of ECC in people living with stroke has not been systematically analyzed.

OBJECTIVE

To determine the effects of ECC, compared to other exercise modalities (i.e., concentric training), on motor function in individuals with stroke.

METHODS

This scoping review was performed according to PRISMA extension for scoping reviews. Until March 2023, a comprehensive search of studies using ECC intervention to improve motor functions in individuals with stroke was performed. Study designs included were randomized and non-randomized controlled trials and quasi-experimental studies using MEDLINE, Web of Science, Rehabilitation & Sports Medicine, PEDro, and OTSeeker databases. Two independent reviewers selected articles based on title and abstract and extracted relevant information from the eligible studies. The results were qualitatively synthesized, and the critical appraisal was performed using the Rob 2.0 and Robins-I tools.

RESULTS

Ten studies, with 257 individuals, were analyzed. ECC revealed positive effects on muscle strength, muscular activity, balance, gait speed, and functionality, mainly compared with concentric training, physical therapy, and daily routine. No significant adverse events were reported during ECC. The critical appraisal of individual articles ranged from some to high concern.

CONCLUSION

ECC had a greater and positive effect on motor function in individuals with stroke than other exercise modalities. However, the limited number of studies, variability of outcomes, and the risk of bias produced a low certainty of evidence.

Efficacy of robot-assisted gait training on lower extremity function in subacute stroke patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

Robot-Assisted Gait Training (RAGT) is a novel technology widely employed in the field of neurological rehabilitation for patients with subacute stroke. However, the effectiveness of RAGT compared to conventional gait training (CGT) in improving lower extremity function remains a topic of debate. This study aimed to investigate and compare the effects of RAGT and CGT on lower extremity movement in patients with subacute stroke.

METHODS

Comprehensive search was conducted across multiple databases, including PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, EBSCO, Embase, Scopus, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wan Fang, SinoMed and Vip Journal Integration Platform. The database retrieval was performed up until July 9, 2024. Meta-analysis was conducted using RevMan 5.4 software.

RESULTS

A total of 24 RCTs were included in the analysis. The results indicate that, compared with CGT, RAGT led to significant improvements in the Fugl-Meyer Assessment for Lower Extremity [MD = 2.10, 95%CI (0.62, 3.59), P = 0.005], Functional Ambulation Category[MD = 0.44, 95%CI (0.23, 0.65), P < 0.001], Berg Balance Scale [MD = 4.55, 95%CI (3.00, 6.11), P < 0.001], Timed Up and Go test [MD = -4.05, 95%CI (-5.12, -2.98), P < 0.001], and 6-Minute Walk Test [MD = 30.66, 95%CI (22.36, 38.97), P < 0.001] for patients with subacute stroke. However, it did not show a significant effect on the 10-Meter Walk Test [MD = 0.06, 95%CI (-0.01, 0.14), P = 0.08].

CONCLUSIONS

This study provides evidence that RAGT can enhance lower extremity function, balance function, walking ability, and endurance levels compared to CGT. However, the quality of evidence for improvements in gait speed remains low.

Prediction of Changes in Functional Outcomes During the First Year After Inpatient Stroke Rehabilitation: A Longitudinal Study

OBJECTIVE

To identify meaningful changes in patients in 3 functional domains (basic mobility [BM], daily activity [DA], and applied cognition [AC]) after discharge from inpatient stroke rehabilitation and to identify the predictors of 1-year functional improvement.

DESIGN

A longitudinal, multicenter, prospective cohort study.

SETTING

The acute care wards of 3 hospitals in the Greater Taipei area of Taiwan.

PARTICIPANTS

Five hundred patients with stroke in acute care wards (mean age=60±12.2 years, 62% men, N=500).

INTERVENTIONS

Not applicable.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S)

The Mandarin version of the Activity Measure for Post-Acute Care (AM-PAC) short forms were assessed at discharge and 3-, 6-, and 12-month follow-up. The minimal detectable change (MDC) was used to categorize changes in the scores as improved and unimproved at the 4 time points.

RESULTS

The mean scores of the AM-PAC BM and DA subscales substantially increased over the first 3 months after discharge (86% of participants exhibited improvement) and slightly increased during the subsequent 9 months (5∼26% of participants exhibited improvement). However, the mean score of the AC subscale decreased within the first 3 months and increased over the subsequent 9 months (22-23% of participants exhibited improvement). The BM, AC scores at discharge were the dominant predictors of subsequent functional improvement (P<.05). Patients with a higher functional stage at discharge were more likely to experience significant improvement.

CONCLUSION

This study established the capacity of the AM-PAC to predict functional improvement in 3 domains during the early, middle, and late stages of recovery. The findings can assist clinicians in identifying patients at risk of unfavorable long-term functional recovery and providing such patients with tailored interventions during the early stage of rehabilitation.

Longitudinal changes in trunk acceleration and their relationship with gait parameters in post-stroke hemiplegic patients

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of this study was to examine the longitudinal changes in trunk acceleration, gait speed, and paretic leg motion in patients with post-stroke hemiparesis, the relationships between variables at each time point, and whether initial trunk acceleration and gait parameters were related to gait speed 2 months later.

METHODS

Gait was assessed monthly in patients who could walk under supervision after stroke onset. Gait parameters, including gait speed and trailing limb angle (TLA), were measured. Trunk acceleration was quantified using acceleration root mean square (RMS) and stride regularity (SR) indices.

RESULTS

This study found statistically significant longitudinal changes in gait speed (p < .001), acceleration RMS of the total axes (p < .001), and SR of the vertical axes (p < .001). Gait speed correlated significantly with the acceleration RMS of the mediolateral (r = -0.815 to -0.901), vertical (r = -0.541 to -0.747), and anteroposterior (r = -0.718 to -0.829) axes, as well as the SR of the vertical axes (r = 0.558 to 0.724) at all time points from T0 to T2. For the TLA, only the acceleration RMS of the mediolateral axis correlated significantly over the entire study period (r = -0.530 to -0.724). In addition, initial TLA correlated significantly with gait speed after 2 months (r = -0.572).

CONCLUSION

This study showed that assessing trunk acceleration helps estimate the improvement in gait status in patients with post-stroke hemiparesis. The magnitude and regularity of trunk acceleration varied longitudinally and were related to gait speed and paretic leg motion at each time point; however, they could not predict future changes in gait speed.

Minimal Clinically Important Difference (MCID) in the Functional Status Measures in Patients with Stroke: Inverse Probability Treatment Weighting

This study proposed to evaluate the temporal trend, define the minimal clinically important difference (MCID) for five functional status measures, and identify risk factors for reaching deterioration in the MCID. This prospective cohort study analyzed 680 patients with ischemic stroke and 151 patients with hemorrhagic stroke at six hospitals between April 2015 and October 2021. All patients completed the functional status measures before rehabilitation (baseline), and at the 12th week and 2nd year after rehabilitation. Patients in the post-acute care (PAC) group exhibited significantly larger improvements for the functional status measures compared to those in the non-PAC group (p < 0.05). Patients with hemorrhagic stroke also displayed larger improvements in the functional status measures when compared to patients with ischemic stroke. Furthermore, the improvement in MCID ranged from 0.01 to 16.18 points when comparing baseline and the 12th week after rehabilitation, but the deterioration in MCID ranged from 0.38 to 16.12 points. Simultaneously, assessing the baseline and the second year after rehabilitation, the improvement in MCID ranged from 0.01 to 18.43 points, but the deterioration in MCID ranged from 0.68 to 17.26 points. Additionally, the PAC program, age, education level, body mass index, smoking, readmission within 30 days, baseline functional status score, use of Foley catheter and nasogastric tube, as well as a history of previous stroke are significantly associated with achieving deterioration in MCID (p < 0.05). These findings suggest that if the mean change scores of the functional status measures have reached the thresholds, the change scores can be perceived by patients as clinically important.

Stroke Rehabilitation and Motor Recovery

OBJECTIVE

Up to 50% of the nearly 800,000 patients who experience a new or recurrent stroke each year in the United States fail to achieve full independence afterward. More effective approaches to enhance motor recovery following stroke are needed. This article reviews the rehabilitative principles and strategies that can be used to maximize post-stroke recovery.

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS

Evidence dictates that mobilization should not begin prior to 24 hours following stroke, but detailed guidelines beyond this are lacking. Specific classes of potentially detrimental medications should be avoided in the early days poststroke. Patients with stroke who are unable to return home should be referred for evaluation to an inpatient rehabilitation facility. Research suggests that a substantial increase in both the dose and intensity of upper and lower extremity exercise is beneficial. A clinical trial supports vagus nerve stimulation as an adjunct to occupational therapy for motor recovery in the upper extremity. The data remain somewhat mixed as to whether robotics, transcranial magnetic stimulation, functional electrical stimulation, and transcranial direct current stimulation are better than dose-matched traditional exercise. No current drug therapy has been proven to augment exercise poststroke to enhance motor recovery.

ESSENTIAL POINTS

Neurologists will collaborate with rehabilitation professionals for several months following a patient's stroke. Many questions still remain about the ideal exercise regimen to maximize motor recovery in patients poststroke. The next several years will likely bring a host of new research studies exploring the latest strategies to enhance motor recovery using poststroke exercise.

Activity Measure for Post-Acute Care “6-Clicks” Basic Mobility Scores Predict Discharge Destination After Acute Care Hospitalization in Select Patient Groups: A Retrospective, Observational Study

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A standardized Basic Mobility score of 42.9 predicts home vs institution discharge.

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Orthopedic diagnoses may have a cutoff score of 41.5 to predict home discharge.

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Cutoff scores vary by diagnostic group and discharge destination.

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Cutoff scores vary by time of assessment relative to admission for some diagnoses.

Objectives

To establish cutoff scores for the Activity Measure for Post-Acute Care “6-Clicks” standardized Basic Mobility scores (sBMSs) for predicting discharge destination after acute care hospitalization for diagnostic subgroups within an acute care population and to evaluate the need for a second score to improve predictive ability.

Design

Retrospective, observational design.

Setting

Major medical center in metropolitan area.

Participants

Electronic medical records of 1696 adult patients (>18 years) admitted to acute care from January to October 2018. Records were stratified by orthopedic, cardiac, pulmonary, stroke, and other neurological diagnoses (N=1696). Interventions: None

Main Outcome Measure

Physical therapists scored patients’ sBMSs after referral for physical therapy and prior to discharge. Receiver operating characteristic curves delineated sBMS cutoff scores distinguishing various pairings of home, home with services, inpatient rehabilitation, or skilled nursing facility discharges. First and second sBMSs were compared with percentage change of the area under the curve and inferential statistics.

Results

Home vs institution cutoff score was 42.88 for combined sample, pulmonary and neurological cases. The cutoff score for orthopedic diagnoses score was 41.46. Cardiac and stroke model quality invalidated cutoff scores. Home without services vs skilled nursing discharges and home with services vs skilled nursing discharges were predicted with varying cutoff scores per diagnosis. sBMS cutoff scores collected closer to discharge were either the same or higher than first cutoffs, with varying effects on predictive ability.

Conclusions

sBMSs can help decide institution vs home discharge and finer distinctions among discharge settings for some diagnostic groups. A single sBMS may provide sufficient assistance with discharge destination decisions but timing of scoring and diagnostic group may influence cutoff score selection.

Discharge Rehabilitation Measures Predict Activity Limitations in Patients With Stroke 6 Months After Inpatient Rehabilitation

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to identify rehabilitation measures at discharge from acute inpatient stroke rehabilitation that predict activity limitations at 6 mos postdischarge.

DESIGN

This is a retrospective analysis of a prospective, longitudinal, observational cohort study. It was conducted in an acute inpatient rehabilitation unit at an urban, academic medical center. Activity limitations in patients ( N = 141) with stroke of mild-moderate severity were assessed with the activity measure for post-acute care at inpatient stroke rehabilitation discharge and 6-mo follow-up. Rehabilitation measures at discharge were investigated as predictors for activity limitations at 6 mos.

RESULTS

Measures of balance (Berg Balance Scale), functional limitations in motor-based activities (functional independence measure-motor subscore), and motor impairment (motricity index), in addition to discharge activities measure for post-acute care scores, strongly predicted activity limitations in basic mobility and daily activities at 6 mos (51% and 41% variance explained, respectively). Functional limitations in cognition (functional independence measure-cognitive subscore) and executive function impairment (Trail Making Test-part B), in addition to the discharge activities measure for post-acute care score, modestly predicted limitations in cognitively based daily activities at 6 mos (12% of variance).

CONCLUSIONS

Standardized rehabilitation measures at inpatient stroke rehabilitation discharge can predict future activity limitations, which may improve prediction of outcome post-stroke and aid in postdischarge treatment planning.

Observation of the Effect of TTM-Based Health Information Behavior Combined with Continuous Nursing on Cognitive and Motor Function, Living Ability, and the Quality of Life of Cerebral Stroke Patients

Purpose

To discuss the effect of the transtheoretical model (TTM) of behavior-based health information behavior combined with continuous nursing on cognitive function, motor function, living ability, and quality of life of cerebral stroke (CS) patients.

Methods

540 cases of CS patients hospitalized in our hospital from June 2020 to June 2021 were selected. All the subjects were divided into the control group (270 cases) and study group (270 cases) according to the random number table. The control group was given routine nursing intervention and the study group was given TTM-based health information behavior combined with continuous nursing. The patients were paid a return visit 6 months after discharge, and their cognitive function, motor function, living ability, and quality of life were observed before and after intervention.

Results

After intervention, the Montreal cognitive assessment scale score, Fugl-Meyer assessment of motor function score, Barthel index score, and short health scale score of both groups were higher than before intervention, and the study group was higher than the control group (P < 0.05).

Conclusion

TTM-based health information behavior combined with continuous nursing has a significant positive impact on cognitive function, motor function, living ability, and quality of life of CS patients.

Longitudinal Changes in Temporospatial Gait Characteristics during the First Year Post-Stroke

Given the paucity of longitudinal data in gait recovery after stroke, we compared temporospatial gait characteristics of stroke patients during subacute (<2 months post-onset, T0) and at approximately 6 and 12 months post-onset (T1 and T2, respectively) and explored the relationship between gait characteristics at T0 and the changes in gait speed from T0 to T1. Forty-six participants were assessed at T0 and a subsample of twenty-four participants were assessed at T2. Outcome measures included Fugl-Meyer lower-extremity motor score, 14 temporospatial gait parameters, and symmetry indices of 5 step parameters. Except for step width, all temporospatial parameters improved from T0 to T1 (p ≤ 0.0001). Additionally, significant improvements in symmetry were found for the initial double-support time and single-support time (p ≤ 0.0001). As a group, no significant differences were found between T1 and T2 in any of the temporospatial measures. However, the individual analysis revealed that 42% (10/24) of the subsample showed a significant increase in gait speed (Welch’s t-test, p ≤ 0.002). Yet, only 5/24 (21%) of the participants improved speed from T1 to T2 according to speed-based minimum detectable change criteria. The increase in gait speed from T0 to T1 was negatively correlated with gait speed and stride length and positively correlated with the symmetry indices of stance and single-support times at T0 (p ≤ 0.002). Temporospatial gait parameters and stance time symmetry improved over the first 6 months after stroke with an apparent plateau thereafter. A greater increase in gait speed during the first 6 months post-stroke is associated with initially slower walking, shorter stride length, and more pronounced asymmetry in stance and single-support times. The improvement in lower-extremity motor function and bilateral improvements in step parameters collectively suggest that gait changes over the first 6 months after stroke are likely due to a combination of neurological recovery, compensatory strategies, and physical therapy received during that time.

Impaired Performance on a Cognitively-Based Instrumental Activities of Daily Living Task, the 10-Item Weekly Calendar Planning Activity, in Individuals With Stroke Undergoing Acute Inpatient Rehabilitation

Performance-based, functionally relevant, and standardized measures of cognitive-instrumental activities of daily living (C-IADL) can complement neuropsychological tests of cognitive impairment and provide valuable clinical information to inform rehabilitation planning. Existing measures have been validated in the outpatient setting. Here, we sought to evaluate a 10-item, short-form of a C-IADL measure, Weekly Calendar Planning Activity (WCPA-10), in inpatients with stroke undergoing acute rehabilitation. The specific goal was to determine if the WCPA-10 could differentiate between stroke patients undergoing acute inpatient rehabilitation and healthy control individuals. We also explored whether the WCPA-10 would identify C-IADL limitations in stroke patients screened as having intact cognition. Seventy-seven stroke inpatients undergoing rehabilitation and 77 healthy control participants completed the WCPA-10, which involves entering a list of simulated, fictional appointments into a weekly schedule while keeping track of and adhering to multiple task rules and ignoring built-in obstacles and distractions. Compared to the control group, stroke patients had significantly worse accuracy, made more errors, used fewer cognitive strategies, followed fewer rules, took more time to complete the task, and were less efficient. 83% of stroke patients were less accurate than predicted by their age, and 64% used less strategies than their age prediction. Among 28 participants who screened as having “normal” cognitive function on the Montreal Cognitive Assessment, the majority had deficits on the WCPA-10. Our results provide initial support for use of a brief C-IADL assessment, WCPA-10, for individuals with stroke undergoing inpatient rehabilitation. They indicate that stroke patients have deficits in C-IADL accuracy, efficiency, and strategy use at this stage of stroke recovery. Results highlight the need to use performance based, functional cognitive assessments, even for those who perform well on cognitive screening tools.