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Background Paresis in stroke is largely a result of damage to descending corticospinal and corticobulbar pathways. Recovery of paresis predominantly reflects the impact on the neural consequences of this white matter lesion by reactive neuroplasticity (mechanisms involved in spontaneous recovery) and experience-dependent neuroplasticity, driven by therapy and daily experience. However, both theoretical considerations and empirical data suggest that type of stroke (large vessel distribution/lacunar infarction, hemorrhage), locus and extent of infarction (basal ganglia, right-hemisphere cerebral cortex), and the presence of leukoaraiosis or prior stroke might influence long-term recovery of walking ability. In this secondary analysis based on the 408 participants in the Locomotor Experience Applied Post-Stroke (LEAPS) study database, we seek to address these possibilities. Methods Lesion type, locus, and extent were characterized by the 2 neurologists in the LEAPS trial on the basis of clinical computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging scans. A series of regression models was used to test our hypotheses regarding the effects of lesion type, locus, extent, and laterality on 2- to 12-month change in gait speed, controlling for baseline gait speed, age, and Berg Balance Scale score. Results Gait speed change at 1 year was significantly reduced in participants with basal ganglia involvement and prior stroke. There was a trend toward reduction of gait speed change in participants with lacunar infarctions. The presence of right-hemisphere cortical involvement had no significant impact on outcome. Conclusions Type, locus, and extent of lesion, and the loss of substrate for neuroplastic effect as a result of prior stroke may affect long-term outcome of rehabilitation of hemiparetic gait., (© The Author(s) 2015.)

Objective: To ascertain the existence of discordance between perceived and measured balance in persons with stroke and to examine the impact on walking speed and falls., Design: A secondary analysis of a phase three, multicentered randomized controlled trial examining walking recovery following stroke., Subjects: A total of 352 participants from the Locomotor Experience Applied Post-Stroke (LEAPS) trial., Methods: Participants were categorized into four groups: two concordant and two discordant groups in relation to measured and perceived balance. Number and percentage of individuals with concordance and discordance were evaluated at two and 12 months. Walking speed and fall incidence between groups were examined., Main Measures: Perceived balance was measured by the Activities-Specific Balance Confidence scale, measured balance was determined by the Berg Balance Scale and gait speed was measured by the 10-meter walk test., Results: Discordance was present for 35.8% of participants at two months post stroke with no statistically significant change in proportion at 12 months. Discordant participants with high perceived balance and low measured balance walked 0.09 m/s faster at two months than participants with concordant low perceived and measured balance (p < 0.05). Discordant participants with low perceived balance and high measured balance walked 0.15 m/s slower than those that were concordant with high perceived and measured balance (p ⩽ 0.0001) at 12 months. Concordant participants with high perceived and measured balance walked fastest and had fewer falls., Conclusions: Discordance existed between perceived and measured balance in one-third of individuals at two and 12 months post-stroke. Perceived balance impacted gait speed but not fall incidence., (© The Author(s) 2015.)

Background: Coronary artery disease is highly prevalent in patients with stroke, but because revascularization does not improve major clinical outcomes in patients with stable coronary artery disease relative to intensive medical therapy, routine evaluation for this disease is not warranted in stroke patients. However, it might be warranted in patients destined to undergo vigorous physical therapy. The Locomotor Experience Applied Post-Stroke study, a randomized controlled trial of 408 participants that tested the relative efficacy of two rehabilitation techniques on functional walking level, provided the opportunity to address this question., Aim: The study aims to test the efficacy of screening for cardiovascular disease and an exercise tolerance test in assuring safety among patients undergoing vigorous rehabilitation for gait impairment., Methods: All participants were screened for serious cardiovascular and pulmonary conditions. At six-weeks poststroke, they also completed a cardiovascular screening inventory and underwent an exercise tolerance test involving bicycle ergometry. Participants received 36, 90-min sessions of a prescribed physical therapy (three per week), initiated at either two-months or six-months poststroke., Results: Twenty-nine participants were excluded on the basis of the cardiac screening questionnaire, and 15 failed the exercise tolerance test for cardiovascular reasons. No participant experienced a cardiac event during a treatment session. Two participants experienced myocardial infarctions, but continued in the trial. In three additional participants, myocardial infarctions caused or contributed to death., Conclusions: The combination of a negative cardiac screen and the absence of exercise tolerance test failure appeared to have a high negative predictive value for cardiac events during treatment, despite the likelihood of a high prevalence of coronary artery disease in our population., (© 2014 World Stroke Organization.)

Background: Extensive data, primarily from animal studies, suggest that several classes of drugs may have antineuroplastic effects that could impede recovery from brain injury or reduce the efficacy of rehabilitation., Aims: The Locomotor Experience Applied Post-Stroke trial, a randomized controlled study of 408 subjects that tested the relative efficacy of two rehabilitation techniques on functional walking level at one-year poststroke, provided us the opportunity to prospectively assess the potential antineuroplastic effects of several classes of drug., Methods: Subjects were randomized to receive one of the two rehabilitation therapies at two-months poststroke. Drugs taken were recorded at time of randomization. Outcome was assessed at one-year poststroke. Regression models were used to determine the amount of variance in success in improving functional walking level, gains in walking speed, and declines in lower extremity, upper extremity, and cognitive impairment accounted for by α1 noradrenergic blockers + α2 noradrenergic agonists, benzodiazepines, voltage-sensitive sodium channel anticonvulsants, and α2δ voltage-sensitive calcium channel blockers., Results: The maximum variance accounted for by any drug class was 1.66%. Drug effects were not statistically significant when using even our most lenient standard for correction for multiple comparisons., Conclusions: Drugs in the classes we were able to assess do not appear to exert a clinically important effect on outcome over the period between two- and 12 months poststroke. However, the potential antineuroplastic effects of certain drugs remain an incompletely settled scientific question., (© 2012 The Authors. International Journal of Stroke © 2012 World Stroke Organization.)

Background: After inpatient stroke rehabilitation, many people still cannot participate in community activities because of limited walking ability., Objective: To compare the effectiveness of 2 conceptually different, early physical therapy (PT) interventions to usual care (UC) in improving walking 6 months after stroke., Methods: The locomotor experience applied post-stroke (LEAPS) study was a single-blind, randomized controlled trial conducted in 408 adults with disabling hemiparetic stroke. Participants were stratified at baseline (2 months) by impairment in walking speed: severe (<0.4 m/s) or moderate (0.4 to <0.8 m/s). Between 2 and 6 months, they received either only UC (n = 143) or UC plus 36 therapist-provided sessions of either (1) walking training on a treadmill using body-weight support and practice overground at clinics (locomotor training program [LTP], n = 139) or (2) impairment-based strength and balance exercise at home (home exercise program [HEP], n = 126)., Results: LTP participants were 18% more likely to transition to a higher functional walking level: severe to >0.4 m/s and moderate to >0.8 m/s than UC participants (95% confidence interval [CI] = 7%-29%), and HEP participants were 17% more likely to transition (95% CI = 5%-29%). Mean gain in walking speed in LTP participants was 0.13 m/s greater (95% CI = 0.09-0.18) and in HEP participants, 0.10 m/s greater (95% CI = 0.05-0.14) than in UC participants., Conclusions: Progressive PT, using either walking training on a treadmill and overground, conducted in a clinic, or strength and balance exercises conducted at home, was superior to UC in improving walking, regardless of severity of initial impairment.

This paper represents the opinion of a group of researchers and clinicians with an established interest in poststroke care and is based on the recognised need for long-term care following stroke, especially in view of the global increase of disability due to stroke. Among the more frequent long-term complications following stroke are spasticity-related disabilities. Although spasticity alone occurs in up to 60% of stroke survivors, disabling spasticity affects only 4-10%. Spasticity further interferes with important functions of daily life when it occurs in association with pain, motor impairment, and overall declines of cognitive and neurological function. It is proposed that the aftermath of stroke be considered a chronic disease requiring a multifactorial and multilevel approach. There are, however, knowledge gaps related to the prediction and recognition of poststroke disability. Interventions to prevent or minimise such disabilities require further development and evaluation. Poststroke spasticity research should focus on reducing disability and be considered as part of a continuum of chronic care requirements and should be recognised as a part of a comprehensive poststroke disease management programme., (© 2011 The Authors. International Journal of Stroke © 2011 World Stroke Organization.)

Background: Task-specificity, repetition and progression are key variables in the acquisition of motor skill however they have not been consistently implemented in post-stroke rehabilitation., Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of a stroke rehabilitation plan of care that incorporated task-specific practice, repetition and progression to facilitate functional gain compared to standard physical therapy for individuals admitted to an inpatient stroke unit., Methods: Individuals participated in either a circuit training (CTPT) model (n = 72) or a standard (SPT) model (n = 108) of physical therapy, 5 days/week. Each 60 minute circuit training session, delivered according to severity level, consisted of four functional mobility tasks. Daily exercise logs documented both task repetition and progression., Results: The CTPT model was successfully implemented in an acute rehabilitation setting. The CTPT group showed a significantly greater improved change in gait speed from hospital admission to discharge than the SPT group (0.21 ± 0.25 m/sec vs. 0.13 ± 0.22 m/sec; p = 0.03). The difference between groups occurred primarily among those who were ambulatory upon admission. There were no significant differences between the two cohorts at 90 days post-stroke as measured by the FONE-FIM, SF-36 and living location., Conclusions: Therapy focused on systematically progressed functional tasks can be successfully implemented in an inpatient rehabilitation stroke program. This circuit-training model resulted in greater gains in gait velocity over the course of inpatient rehabilitation compared to the standard model of care. Community-based services following hospital discharge to maintain these gains should be included in the continuum of post-stroke care.

Background: Up to 65% of individuals demonstrate poststroke cognitive impairments, which may increase hospital stay and caregiver burden. Randomized stroke clinical trials have emphasized physical recovery over cognition. Neuropsychological assessments have had limited utility in randomized clinical trials. These issues accentuate the need for a measure of functional cognition (the ability to accomplish everyday activities that rely on cognitive abilities, such as locating keys, conveying information, or planning activities)., Objective: The aim of the study was to present the process used to establish domains of functional cognition for development of computer adaptive measure of functional cognition for stroke., Methods: Functional cognitive domains involved in identifying relevant neuropsychological constructs from the literature were conceptualized and finalized after advisory panel feedback from experts in neurology, neuropsychology, aphasiology, clinical trials, and epidemiology., Results: The following 17 domains were proposed: receptive aphasia, expressive aphasia, agraphia, alexia, calculation, visuospatial, visuoperceptual, visuoconstruction, attention, language usage, executive functions, orientation, processing speed, memory, working memory, mood, awareness and abstract reasoning. The advisory panel recommended retaining the first 12 domains. Recommended changes included: to address only encoding and retrieval of recent information in the memory domain; to add domains for limb apraxia and poststroke depression; and to keep orientation as a separate domain or reclassify it under memory or attention. The final 10 domains included: language, reading and writing, numeric/calculation, limb praxis, visuospatial function, social use of language, emotional function, attention, executive function, and memory., Conclusion: Conceptualizing domains of functional cognition is the first step in developing a computer adaptive measure of functional cognition for stroke. Additional steps include developing, refining, and field-testing items, psychometric analysis, and computer adaptive test programming.

Objective: To evaluate the feasibility and concurrent validity of a new, mail-administered, stroke-specific outcome measure, the Stroke Impact Scale (SIS)., Design: Observational cohort study., Setting and Patients: Stroke patients who had lived independently in the community prior to their stroke and who were candidates for post-stroke rehabilitation were recruited from nine, high-volume, Department of Veteran Affairs Medical Centers., Methods: Two hundred and six patients were mailed the SIS after a six-month post-stroke telephone interview. Telephone assessments included the Functional Independence Measure, the Lawton IADL and the SF-36., Results: The response rate for the mailed SIS was 63%, with 45% of the responses from proxies. The average rate of missing item level scores per patient was 1.3 (range 0-20) resulting in an average rate of 0.13 missing domain scores per patient (range 0-3). Nonresponders to the mailed SIS had more severe strokes with lower functional status at the time of the survey than responders. Proxies were more likely to complete the survey if the subjects were older, married, cognitively impaired and more functionally limited. The SIS did not exhibit a high rate of floor and ceiling effects, particularly in physical function domains, as did the FIM and the SF-36., Conclusions: The mailed SIS is a feasible means of assessing post-stroke function. Missing items and missing domain scores were extremely low, however, there is a trade-off between the low-cost mail SIS survey on the one hand and the resulting nonresponse bias on the other.