Timing of motor recovery in subacute and chronic stroke patients during upper limb robot-assisted rehabilitation

The objective of this study is to evaluate the different timing of upper limb motor recovery in subacute and chronic stroke patients by using kinematic parameters combined with clinical evaluations. Twenty-five subacute and twenty-three chronic stroke patients participated in this study. The Chedoke-McMaster Stroke Assessment Scale, Modified Ashworth Scale, Fugl-Meyer Scale and Motricity Index were used as clinical outcome measures. The mean speed, maximum speed, number of speed peaks, normalized reaching speed, jerk metric, acceleration metric and mean distance were computed. Significant improvements were found in both groups in Fugl-Meyer scores. Motricity Index scores improved significantly only in the subacute group. Significant changes were found in all kinematic parameters in the subacute group. In the chronic group significant improvements were found in the mean and maximum speed, and in normalized reaching speed values. This study confirms that the upper limb robot-assisted therapy is effective both in subacute and chronic stage after stroke.