Predictive factors for functional and motor recovery following spontaneous intracerebral haemorrhage.
Shu-Mei Yang, Yen-Heng Lin, Ting-Ju Lai and 6 others
PMID 40047308WHAT IT FOUND
Early sitting ability predicted recovery after intracerebral haemorrhage.
Patients unable to sit without physical assistance or maintain sitting for 2 minutes had poorer function, motor recovery and transfers. This does not prove that training sitting improves outcomes.
Key findings
01In multivariate analysis, impaired ability to sit independently without physical assistance was associated with poor function at 4 weeks, and impaired ability to sit independently for 2 minutes was associated with poor function at 12 weeks.
02In multivariate motor recovery models, sitting ability and NIHSS score 24 hours after emergency room arrival were significant predictors of upper and lower limb Brunnstrom recovery at 4 weeks.
03Patients unable to sit without physical assistance had higher odds of poor transfer at 4 weeks (OR 2.046), and patients unable to sit for 2 minutes had higher odds (OR 4.016).
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
Because the study was retrospective, it cannot show that any predictor caused the outcome. It was done at one tertiary referral hospital, so patients may be more complex than in other settings. The authors did not assess specific cognitive domains such as attention, executive function or spatial awareness, which can affect sitting and recovery. Brunnstrom motor stages are subjective and may vary between raters. The study did not report the details or intensity of rehabilitation interventions, so it is unclear how therapy itself influenced outcomes. There may be unmeasured confounders not captured in the medical records.
Declared interests
The research was funded by National Taiwan University Hospital (NTUH 114-X0009). The article does not report any other conflict-of-interest declarations.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that improving sitting ability will improve recovery. The study was a retrospective observational cohort and did not test a therapy, so it cannot show that changing sitting ability causes better function or motor recovery.