A neurophysiological and clinical study of Brunnstrom recovery stages in the upper limb following stroke.
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.
Naghdi
Soofia
S
Faculty of Rehabilitation, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. naghdi@sina.tums.ac.ir
Ansari
Noureddin Nakhostin
NN
Mansouri
Korosh
K
Hasson
Scott
S
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*