Upper limb kinematics during the first year after stroke: the stroke arm longitudinal study at the University of Gothenburg (SALGOT).

Only 56 patients were analysed, and all had to be able to use the more-affected arm to drink from a glass, so the results do not apply to people with more severe arm impairment. Most patients had mild to moderate stroke, with a median NIHSS score of 4 at admission, and the applicable group was described as having an FMA-UE score of at least 32 points. Some patients entered late: 6 at 4 weeks and 4 at 3 months because they could not perform the task earlier, although a subgroup analysis showed a similar trend. The later time points were far apart, so the study could not pin down exactly when movement performance plateaued. The study observed natural recovery and did not assign or test treatment, so it cannot show what caused the changes. Treatment exposure varied and was only reported by patients, while the longitudinal analysis modelled time rather than therapy dose. Participants were from one Swedish stroke unit and had to communicate in Swedish before stroke, which may limit generalisability.

Funding was provided by Vetenskapsrådet, Hjärnfonden, Västra Götalandsregionen, Hjärt-Lungfonden, Norrbacka-Eugeniastiftelsen, STROKE-Riksförbundet, Stiftelsen Handlanden Hjalmar Svenssons and Stiftelsen Promobilia. The supplied text does not report author conflicts of interest or say that a funder designed the study or wrote the manuscript.

Do not conclude that a patient has fully recovered because their movement time looks near normal. The paper found that elbow speed, arm lifting away from the body and trunk lean remained abnormal at 12 months, and movement was still less smooth than healthy controls at 12 months.