Prevalence of Arm Weakness, Pre-Stroke Outcomes and Other Post-Stroke Impairments Using Routinely Collected Clinical Data on an Acute Stroke Unit.

Introduction: The prevalence of upper limb motor weakness early post-stroke may be changing, which can have clinical and research implications. Our primary aim was to describe the prevalence of upper limb motor weakness early post-stroke, with a secondary aim to contextualize this prevalence by describing pre-stroke outcomes, other post-stroke impairments, functional activities, and discharge destination.

Methods: This cross-sectional observational study extracted clinical data from confirmed stroke patients admitted to a metropolitan stroke unit over 15-months.