Does kinematics add meaningful information to clinical assessment in post-stroke upper limb rehabilitation? A case report

[Purpose] The aims of this case study were to: (a) quantify the impairment and activity restriction of the upper limb in a hemiparetic patient; (b) quantitatively evaluate rehabilitation program effectiveness; and (c) discuss whether more clinically meaningful information can be gained with the use of kinematic analysis in addition to clinical assessment. The rehabilitation program consisted of the combined use of different traditional physiotherapy techniques, occupational therapy sessions, and the so-called task-oriented approach. [Subject and Methods] Subject was a one hemiplegic patient. The patient was assessed at the beginning and after 1 month of daily rehabilitation using the Medical Research Council scale, Nine Hole Peg Test, Motor Evaluation Scale for Upper Extremity in Stroke Patients, and Hand Grip Dynamometer test as well as a kinematic analysis using an optoelectronic system. [Results] After treatment, significant improvements were evident in terms of total movement duration, movement completion velocity, and some smoothness parameters. [Conclusion] Our case report showed that the integration of clinical assessment with kinematic evaluation appears to be useful for quantitatively assessing performance changes.