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Objective: To assess recovery of grip strength during the first year post-stroke. Design: Exploratory study on a subsample of patients participating in the Norwegian Constraint-Induced Movement Therapy trial. Subjects: Eleven patients (mean age 59.1 years; 3 women) with mild to moderate stroke were recruited 7–29 days post-stroke. Methods: An electronic dynamometer (Biometrics Ltd, Gwent, UK, 2006) was used to assess maximum grip force in 5 hand positions, rate of force development and sustainability of grip force. Similar assessments were performed to assess pinch strength. The participants were assessed 5 times during a 1-year period. Results: Grip force in the affected hand increased in all handle positions during the 1-year follow-up, mostly during the first 6 months. At 2 and 4 weeks, rate of force development was less than half, and relative sustainability of grip force showed 20–30% greater deficit than for the non-affected hand. The affected hand approached the values of the non-affected hand after 6 months with little further progress until 1-year follow-up. Conclusion: Grip strength in the affected hand improved considerably in the first year post-stroke. Patterns of improvement were similar across tests, i.e. rapid during the first weeks, slower until 6 months, and minimal 6–12 months post-stroke.

Objectives: To investigate changes in health-related quality of life between 3- and 12-months post-stroke in a north Norwegian and a Danish region that organize their rehabilitation services differently, and to identify clinically relevant predictors of change. Design: Prospective multicentre cohort study. Subjects: In total, 304 patients with first-ever stroke (male sex 59%, mean age 68.7 years) participated from Norway (n = 170) and Denmark (n = 134). Methods: The Quality of Life after Brain Injury-Overall Scale (QOLIBRI-OS) was administered twice to measure change in satisfaction with function and wellbeing. Results: QOLIBRI-OS scores showed a small statistically significant difference in favour of Norway at 12 months post-stroke (p = 0.02; Cohen’s d = 0.26). Using a calculated minimal clinically important difference score of 12, 20% reported worse, 54% unchanged and 26% better QOLIBRI-OS scores between 3 and 12 months. Age below 65 years predicted a negative change (odds ratio (OR) 0.4, p = 0.007). Conclusion: In this population with mild and moderate stroke, QOLIBRI-OS scores were slightly higher in the Norwegian region. Approximately 50% of participants experienced clinically important changes in satisfaction with functioning and wellbeing between 3 and 12 months post-stroke. Younger age predicted negative change. This result could indicate increased rehabilitation needs over time in young patients and should be investigated further.