Factors Affecting the Upper Limb Function in Stroke Patients

This study was carried out to identify the factors which correlated with upper limb function after stroke and to analyze the effect of related factors on upper limb function. The 100 stroke patients(MMSE-K>24) were participated. The upper limb function according to gender, hand dominance, stroke type, affected location, site of paralysis, speech disorder showed no significant difference, and show significant difference according to shoulder subluxation. The upper limb muscle strength(Manual Muscle Testing), proprioception, muscle tone(Modified Ashworth Scale), grip strength(Dynamometer), paint (Visual Analog Scale) showed significant correlations with upper limb function. These predictors explained 77.6% of the upper limb function and the most significant affecting factor of upper limb function was upper limb muscle strength. In conclusion, the upper limb muscle strengthening will be effective strategy to improving the upper limb function and considering the proprioception, muscle tone, grip strength, pain, subluxation will be helpful to develop the strategies.

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