Arm and leg motor impairment after stroke rehabilitation: relation to participation restriction in the Tamale Metropolitan Area
Abstract
Residual arm and leg motor impairment persist in post-stroke patients despite
rehabilitation. This motor impairment is further translated to participation restriction which
impacts negatively on affected individuals’ quality of life.
To examine the relationship between arm and leg motor impairment and participation
restriction post rehabilitation in stroke survivors.
102 post-stroke participants from the Tamale Metropolitan Area who had undergone
at least 3 months of rehabilitation completed the study. Upper limb motor assessment was
followed by lower limb motor assessment based on the Manual Muscle Test. Levels of
participation restriction were measured using the London Handicap Scale. Correlation analyses
of motor impairment and participation restriction were done using spearman rank correlation
analysis.
The mean age of post-stroke participants was 62.08 years (95% CI= 59.77-64.39) with
men constituting 67.65% as against 32.35% by women. The spearman rank correlation coefficient
between arm motor impairment and participation was 0.8343, depicting a strong
positive relationship between the aforementioned variables. The correlation between leg motor
impairment and participation yielded 0.8013. Leg motor impairment was discovered to have a
stronger relationship with participation restriction compared to arm motor impairment.
The strong relationship between limb motor impairment and participation
restriction suggests that clinicians and disability experts involved in rehabilitation should take
cognizance of the social implication of motor impairment in order to make informed decisions.
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Further to this, arm and leg assistive devices could be useful in reducing the levels of
participation restriction in post-stroke patients within the Tamale Metropolis.
Description
A Thesis submitted to the Department of Community Health, College of Health Sciences.
In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science (Disability, Rehabilitation, and Development)
Keywords
Tamale Metropolitan area, participation restriction, motor impairment, Stroke