MOTOR RECOVERY FOLLOWING STROKE - A BASIS FOR EVALUATION

Health professionals devote much time to the treatment of stroke patie nts yet little is known about the extent to which recovery is influenc ed, and the effectiveness of rehabilitation methods continues to be a much-debated subject. The aim of this study was to identify whether ch anges in the motor recovery of 42 acute stroke patients could be detec ted by qualitatively scoring 25 items of functional mobility over a 14 -week period. The results of the study identified that this method was sensitive in detecting weekly changes in early motor recovery. Three recovery groups were identified, and within each group it was possible to describe important time periods in which patients demonstrated var ied rates of recovery. A qualitative and objective measure of stroke r ecovery could provide a basis for evaluating patient progress and the outcome of therapeutic interventions.