Prediction of upper limb recovery in the acute phase of cerebrovascular disease: study design and socio-demographic profiles, medical profiles,and acute symptoms of participants at baseline

OBJECTIVES: In this study, we aim to predict the recovery of upper limb function in patients in the acute phase of cerebrovascular disease. Here, we describe the study design and patients' characteristics at baseline.

METHODS: Subjects were admitted to Takeda General Hospital with cerebrovascular disease, and were prescribed to undergo rehabilitation. The assessment was conducted between June 2010 and March 2011. The baseline survey assessed the following factors: socio-demographic profiles (age, sex, number of family members, key person, occupation, and activities in daily life), medical profiles (types of cerebrovascular disease, location of brain damage, and history of diseases), and acute symptoms (Japan Coma Scale score, the Barre arm sign, the Brunnstrom recovery stage, tendon reflex, sensation, pain, ataxia, range of motion, muscle tone, grip strength, agnosia, apraxia, aphasia, dysarthria, the Hasegawa Dementia Scale-Revised score, and the Barthel index).

RESULTS: A total of 357 patients with cerebrovascular disease were analyzed on the basis of diagnosis [cerebral infarction (CI; 77.6%), cerebral hemorrhage (CH; 20.2%), subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH; 2.2%)]. There was a significant difference in the average age between the types of cerebrovascular disease. In acute symptoms, sensation, grip strength, cognitive function, and activities of daily living were statistically significantly different between the types of cerebrovascular disease.

CONCLUSIONS: In this report, we described the study design and characteristics of patients with cerebrovascular disease at baseline. In the future, this study could be used for predicting the recovery of upper limb function in these patients.