Real World Upper Extremity Activity of Stroke Survivors

Occupational therapists utilize a battery of standardized assessments at evaluation and throughout the duration of services. These performance-based assessments measure abilities at impairment and activity levels (e.g. grip strength and the Action Research Arm Test). The assumption is made that improved performance on these in-clinic assessments correlates to increased UE activity outside the clinic in daily life. This assumption however, is unsupported by current evidence. Currently, self report measures (e.g. Stroke Impact Scale, Motor Activity Log) are used in both clinical and research settings to gather data on activity outside of therapy time. These measures however, are subject to bias, particularly for physical activity. Social desirability, or the tendency of individuals to portray themselves in keeping up with norms, has been linked specifically to the bias of self report measures. It was found that durations of light and moderate activity were over reported by as much as 79 min/day. These numbers indicate that participants tend to overestimate the amount of activity throughout their day in order to please their provider according to their perceived acceptable norms.

In recent years, accelerometry has been established as an objective, unbiased tool for measuring real world UE activity. Accelerometers have been used to track UE activity in the inpatient rehabilitation setting and then compared to healthy controls. This comparison indicated that healthy individuals use their dominant and non-dominant arms 8-9 hours per day. Individuals with stroke demonstrate significantly less UE use; using their affected arm approximately 3.3 hours and their unaffected arm 6.0 hours per day. A recent study with community dwelling healthy individuals confirmed that healthy individuals use their dominant hand 9 hours and their non-dominant hand 8.6 hours per day. These newer data indicate that regardless of dominance, patients post stroke use their affected limb significantly less than healthy individuals in the community.

Using the framework from previous accelerometry studies, the proposed research study will address the critical need to understand real world UE activity in stroke survivors undergoing standard outpatient occupational therapy. The investigators want to objectively measure, through the use of accelerometers, the time, movement intensity, and bilaterality of UE activity and see if these improve over the course of therapy. These data will help clinicians understand actual UE usage during everyday activities outside of prescribed therapy time. Clinicians will be able to tell if the interventions they are providing are increasing activity in the real world, and not just increasing patient performance in the clinic.