The Interface of Clinical Decision-Making With Study Protocols for Knowledge Translation From a Walking Recovery Trial.

Background And Purpose: Despite efforts to translate knowledge into clinical practice, barriers often arise in adapting the strict protocols of a randomized, controlled trial (RCT) to the individual patient. The Locomotor Experience Applied Post-Stroke (LEAPS) RCT demonstrated equal effectiveness of 2 intervention protocols for walking recovery poststroke; both protocols were more effective than usual care physical therapy. The purpose of this article was to provide knowledge-translation tools to facilitate implementation of the LEAPS RCT protocols into clinical practice.

Fugl-Meyer assessment of sensorimotor function after stroke: standardized training procedure for clinical practice and clinical trials.

Background And Purpose: Outcome measurement fidelity within and between sites of multi-site, randomized, clinical trials is an essential element to meaningful trial outcomes. As important are the methods developed for randomized, clinical trials that can have practical utility for clinical practice. A standardized measurement method and rater training program were developed for the total Fugl-Meyer motor and sensory assessments; inter-rater reliability was used to test program effectiveness.