Effectiveness of a standardised stroke upper extremity rehabilitation program with shortened Fugl–Meyer assessment stratification: A randomised controlled trial

Objective: To investigate the effectiveness of the standardised stroke upper extremity rehabilitation program with stratification using shortened Fugl–Meyer assessment (S-FM). Methods: A new stroke upper extremity rehabilitation program was designed. Participants were randomly allocated to standardised program group or conventional training group. Both groups received training for 60–90 min/session, 5 sessions/week and 5–20 sessions in total. Outcome measures, including S-FM, functional test for the hemiplegic upper extremity (FTHUE) and modified Barthel index (MBI), were taken before and after training. Results: Outcomes of 19 participants in standardised program group and 20 participants in conventional training group were analysed. Both groups showed improvements in S-FM, FTHUE and MBI after training but there were no statistically significant interactions between the groups, upper extremity impairment levels and time. In participants with severe upper extremity impairment, the standardised program group showed greater improvements in S-FM and FTHUE compared to the conventional training group, with the change in S-FM exceeding the minimal clinically important difference. However, these differences did not reach statistical significance. Conclusion: The standardised stroke upper extremity rehabilitation program with S-FM stratification may have slightly better upper extremity functional outcomes in people with stroke having severe upper extremity impairment when compared to the conventional training. Clinical trial registration number: NCT06902948