Linking behavioral variability to daily function in stroke survivors: the mediating role of cognitive and motor mechanisms.
Stefan Delmas, Anjali Tiwari, Han-Yun Tseng and 3 others
PMID 41272620WHAT IT FOUND
Stroke survivors showed more inconsistent performance on simple reaction and movement tasks than matched older adults.
In stroke survivors, inconsistency was linked to poorer daily living tasks, and executive control, not muscle strength, helped account for that link. No treatment was tested.
Key findings
01Stroke survivors had greater inconsistency than healthy older adults.
02In stroke survivors, less inconsistency was associated with better daily living performance, and the association remained after extreme cases were removed.
03Executive control helped account for the link between inconsistency and daily living performance; motor capacity did not.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
The study is cross-sectional, so it cannot show that inconsistency causes poorer daily living or that executive control mediates in a causal sense. Most stroke survivors were high-functioning, so results may not apply to more severely affected patients. Executive control was measured as a general factor, so it cannot identify which specific executive processes matter. Motor capacity was mainly strength, not coordination or dexterity, so motor contributions may be underestimated. The direct effect changed when extreme inconsistency cases were removed, so the exact pattern of mediation depends on outlier handling. Lesion location, comorbidities, rehabilitation history, physical activity, and psychological factors were not accounted for. Some participants had missing task scores, which were imputed.
Declared interests
National Institutes of Health funded the study.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read this as evidence that reducing inconsistency or training executive control will improve daily living. The study was observational and tested no treatment, so it cannot show cause or effect.
Summarised by AI from the full paper, without a clinician reviewing it. Check it against the source before it changes what you do. Read it on PubMed →