title: A neurophysiological and clinical study of Brunnstrom recovery stages in the upper limb following stroke.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine the extent to which the Brunnstrom recovery stages of upper limb in hemiparetic stroke patients are correlated to neurophysiological measures and the spasticity measure of Modified Modified Ashworth Scale (MMAS).
  
  
  METHODS
  A concurrent criterion-related validity study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Not applicable.
  
  
  METHODS
  Thirty patients (15 men and 15 women; mean ± SD = 58.8 ± 11.5 years) with upper limb spasticity after stroke were recruited. Wrist flexor spasticity was rated using the MMAS. The neurophysiological measures were Hslp/Mslp ratio, H(max)/M(max) ratio and Hslp.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There was a significant moderate correlation between the Brunnstrom recovery stages and the neurophysiological measures. The Brunnstrom recovery stages were highly correlated to the MMAS scores (r = -0.81, p < 0.0001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The Brunnstrom recovery stages are moderately correlated with neurophysiological measures and highly correlated with the MMAS regarding the evaluation of motor recovery in stroke patients. The Brunnstrom recovery stages can be used as a valid test for the assessment of patients with post-stroke hemiplegia.
authors: Faculty of Rehabilitation, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. naghdi@sina.tums.ac.ir
authors: Soofia
authors: S
authors: Naghdi
authors: Noureddin Nakhostin
authors: NN
authors: Ansari
authors: Korosh
authors: K
authors: Mansouri
authors: Scott
authors: S
authors: Hasson
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006181:H-Reflex / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009128:Muscle Spasticity / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology*; D009460:Neurologic Examination; D010291:Paresis / Q000503:physiopathology*; D020127:Recovery of Function / Q000502:physiology*; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D020521:Stroke / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology*; D034941:Upper Extremity / Q000503:physiopathology*