Presence of Self-Reported Sleep Alterations After Stroke and Their Relationship With Disability: A Longitudinal Study.

Background: Sleep disorders have a prevalence of 30% to 70% in post-stroke individuals. The presence of sleep disorders and poor sleep quality after stroke can affect important functions and lead to worse outcomes. However, most studies are restricted to the acute post-stroke stage only.

Longitudinal associations between stroke-related neurologic deficits and course of basic activities of daily living up to six months after stroke.

Purpose: To investigate the course of basic activities of daily living (ADL) from admission up to six months after the stroke and the longitudinal associations between stroke-related neurological deficits at admission to the stroke unit and course of basic ADL.

Materials And Methods: 180 individuals with a first-ever stroke were assessed at admission to the stroke unit and at follow-ups of three and six months. Stroke-related neurological deficits were assessed at admission with the National Institutes of Stroke Scale (NIHSS).

Home-based self-management for sedentary individuals with mild walking disability after stroke: protocol for a randomised pilot study.

Background: A Phase I study showed that it is feasible to implement a home-based self-management program aimed at increasing physical activity in individuals after stroke with mild walking disability in Brazil. The next step is to test this program against a control group in order to provide a power analysis for a fully-powered Phase III clinical trial.

Methods: A Phase II pilot randomised clinical trial with concealed allocation, blinded measurement, and intention-to-treat analyses will be carried out.

Predicting self-perceived manual ability at three and six months after stroke: A prospective longitudinal study.

Background: Recovery of manual ability is a critical issue in rehabilitation. Currently, little is known regarding the baseline predictors of self-perceived manual ability, which could capture information on individual's perceived functional ability, especially in carrying-out routine tasks outside clinical settings.

Objective: To identify baseline predictors, which can be easily obtained within clinical settings, of self-perceived manual ability at three and six months after discharge from a stroke unit.

Balance deficit is the domain of the Fugl-Meyer scale that best explain limitations in functional independence during hospitalization after a stroke.

Purpose: To investigate which of the residual sensorimotor impairments, assessed by the Fugl-Meyer scale, would best explain functional independence during hospitalization after a stroke.

Methods: This cross-sectional study retrieved data from medical records between January 2014 to December 2021. Explanatory independent variables were the following domains of the Fugl-Meyer scale: joint pain, joint range of motion, balance, sensory function, and motor function of the upper and lower limbs.

Individuals with stroke three months after hospital discharge reported worse quality of life during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Purpose: To compare quality of life (QOL) of individuals with stroke three months after hospital discharge, using generic and specific QOL measures, before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: Individuals, who were admitted to a public hospital, were recruited and evaluated before (G1) and during (G2) the COVID-19 pandemic. The groups were matched for age, sex, socio-economic status, and levels of stroke severity (National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale) and functional dependence (Modified Barthel Index).

Habitual walking speed and fatigue explain self-reported functional capacity after stroke.

Introduction: Individuals after stroke present several motor impairments, which reduced the functional capacity. The understanding of modifiable factors which are related to functional capacity in individuals with chronic stroke could better direct clinical practice. However, the mechanisms that could influence functional capacity in individuals with chronic stroke are not fully understood.

Walking speed, hip muscles strength, aerobic capacity, and self-perceived locomotion ability most explain walking confidence after stroke: a cross-sectional experimental study.

Identifying the determinants of walking confidence can be crucial in therapeutic terms. On these bases, interventions to improve these factors could improve, in turn, walking confidence. Objective is to explore the relationship between motor impairments and activity limitation measures and walking confidence in people with chronic stroke.

General and comparative self-rated health in chronic stroke: an important outcome measure for health professionals.

Background: After a stroke, several aspects of health and function may influence how individuals perceive their own health. However, self-rated health (SRH), as well as its relationship with functioning, has been little explored in individuals with stroke. The aims of this study were to determine how individuals with chronic post-stroke disabilities evaluate their health, considering general, time- and age-comparative SRH questions and to investigate whether SRH measures would be influenced by the following health and functioning domains: mental/physical functions and personal factors.

Home-Based Interventions may Increase Recruitment, Adherence, and Measurement of outcomes in Clinical Trials of Stroke Rehabilitation.

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the completion rates of a home-based randomized trial, which examined home-based high-intensity respiratory muscle training after stroke compared with sham intervention.

Materials And Methods: Completion was examined in terms of recruitment (enrolment and retention), intervention (adherence and delivery of home-visits) and measurement (collection of outcomes).

Results: Enrolment was 32% and retention was 97% at post-intervention and 84% at follow-up.

Using a cane for one month does not improve walking or social participation in chronic stroke: An attention-controlled randomized trial.

Objective: To examine the effects of the provision of a cane, delivered to ambulatory people with chronic stroke, for improving walking and social participation.

Design: Two-arm, randomized trial.

Setting: Community-based.

Fall Efficacy Scale-International cut-off score discriminates fallers and non-fallers individuals who have had stroke.

Background: Falls, which are common events after stroke, may lead to activity limitations and increased dependence. It is important to identify which commonly employed clinical measures could differentiate individuals, who are fallers from the non-fallers.

Aim: To investigate specific cut-off values of clinical measures that could discriminate fallers and non-fallers individuals with chronic stroke.

Upper Limb Energy Demand During Unilateral Arm Crank Submaximal Exercise Testing in Individuals With Chronic Stroke.

Objective: To investigate upper limb (UL) energy demand during unilateral arm crank submaximal exercise testing in individuals with stroke compared with healthy controls and the relationship between UL energy demand and UL activity in individuals with stroke.

Design: Cross-sectional, observational study.

Setting: Research laboratory.

Depressive symptoms and functional status are associated with sleep quality after stroke.

: To investigate the sleep state and determine whether variables, such as age, functional status, walking capacity, fatigue, depressive symptoms, and quality of life were associated with sleep quality of individuals with chronic stroke.: For this exploratory study, the dependent variable was sleep quality, which was measured by the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). Step-wise multiple linear regression analysis was employed to identify which of the independent variables, that is, age, functional status (Modified Rankin Scale-mRS), walking capacity (6-minute Walk Test), fatigue (Fatigue Severity Scale), depressive symptoms (Geriatric Depression Scale-GDS), and quality of life (EuroQol) were associated with sleep quality.

Perspectives, satisfaction, self-efficacy, and barriers to aerobic exercise reported by individuals with chronic stroke in a developing country.

Purpose: To describe the perspectives, satisfaction, and self-efficacy towards aerobic exercise and to investigate the barriers to aerobic exercise identified by individuals with stroke in a developing country.

Materials And Methods: A cross-sectional study was performed with 15 individuals (55 ± 12 years, 69 ± 77 months post-stroke), who received a 12-week vigorous intensity aerobic treadmill training (three 30-min sessions/week). To assess participants' perspectives, satisfaction, self-efficacy, and barriers to aerobic exercise, a standardized interview and the Short Self-Efficacy for Exercise scale were employed.

Efficacy of task-specific circuit training on physical activity levels and mobility of stroke patients: A randomized controlled trial.

Background: Impaired mobility is related to low physical activity (PA) levels observed after stroke. Therapeutic approaches, such as task-specific circuit training (TSCT), used to improve mobility in individuals with stroke, could also improve PA levels.

Objective: To investigate the efficacy of TSCT, focused on both upper (UL) and lower (LL) limbs, in improving PA levels and mobility (primary outcomes), as well as muscle strength, exercise capacity, and quality of life (secondary outcomes) in subjects with stroke.

Ankle-foot orthoses and continuous functional electrical stimulation improve walking speed after stroke: a systematic review and meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials.

Background: Foot-drop is a common impairment after stroke, which reduces walking ability.

Objective: To examine the efficacy of interventions aimed at reducing foot-drop, i.e.

Reliability and validity of the incremental shuttle walking test in individuals after stroke.

Background: There are limitations to perform the cardiopulmonary exercise test (CPET) and the six-minute walking test (6MWT) in clinical settings. The incremental shuttle walking test (ISWT) might be an alternative assessment of exercise capacity and an estimation of cardiopulmonary fitness after stroke.

Objectives: To investigate the test-retest and inter-rater reliabilities, the standard error of measurement (SEM) and the minimal detectable change (MDC) of the ISWT, its construct validity to assess exercise capacity and its concurrent validity to estimate cardiopulmonary fitness after stroke.

Effects of aerobic training on physical activity in people with stroke: A randomized controlled trial.

Background: Individuals with stroke have low physical activity levels and spend high amount of time in low-energy expenditure activities.

Objective: To investigate the effects of aerobic treadmill training on physical activity levels and time spent in low-energy expenditure activities (primary outcomes), as well as on cardiorespiratory fitness, endurance, depression, mobility, quality of life and participation (secondary outcomes) after stroke.

Methods: A randomized controlled trial, with 22 adults with chronic stroke was performed.

Benefits of Home-Based Respiratory Muscle Training from the Perspectives of Individuals Who Had a Stroke: Qualitative Study.

Background: Although the significance of respiratory muscle training has been established in the literature, there is a need to understand the participants' perceptions of the benefits of this intervention.

Objective: To understand how individuals who had a stroke perceive changes in their body functions and structures, activities, and participation after a high-intensity respiratory muscle training intervention and to understand their perceptions of the benefits and limitations of a home-based intervention.

Design: Qualitative study.

Google fit smartphone application or Gt3X Actigraph: Which is better for detecting the stepping activity of individuals with stroke? A validity study.

Objective: To examine the validity of the GT3X ActiGraph accelerometer and the Google Fit smartphone application in estimating stepping activity in people with chronic stroke.

Methods: Thirty-seven stroke survivors walked along a straight, 10 metre hallway over 5 min at their fastest speeds, wearing the GT3X ActiGraph accelerometer and a smartphone on their paretic lower limb. The criterion-standard measurement made was the actual number of steps, counted by a trained examiner.

Deficits in motor coordination of the paretic lower limb limit the ability to immediately increase walking speed in individuals with chronic stroke.

Objective: To explore the relationships between clinical measures and the ability to increase walking speed in ambulatory people with chronic stroke and to identify which measures would best predict walking speed reserve.

Methods: An exploratory, cross-sectional study was conducted with 114 individuals with chronic stroke. The outcome of interest was walking speed reserve, defined as the difference between individuals' comfortable and maximal walking speeds.