Correlation between Upper Limb Motor Function and Attention after Stroke: a Multicenter Cross-sectional Study

Abstract

Background Upper limb motor dysfunction is a common functional disorder after stroke. Attention may have an impact on the recovery of upper limb motor function, but there is little evidence of correlation between upper limb motor function and attention. Objective To explore the correlation between upper limb motor function and attention after stroke, and to provide a new perspective for clinical rehabilitation of upper limb function. Methods A total of 480 stroke patients who were hospitalized in the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine of 26 units in China from March to October 2023 were selected as the study subjects. The Fugl-Meyer Assessment Upper Limb (FMA-UL) and Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) were used to evaluate the upper limb motor function and attention of the patients, respectively. Pearson correlation analysis was used to explore the correlation between the total score of FMA-UL and the scores of attention assessment items in MoCA. Results Among the 480 patients, 105 patients did not finish the complete evaluation, so finally, 375 patients with stroke were included. The average FMA-UL score was (31.26±22.49) points. The average MoCA-Attention score was (4.74±1.60) points. The average Attention-Forward Digit Span and Backward Digit Span task score was (1.62±0.63) points; the average Attention-Vigilance task score was (0.74±0.45) points; the average Attention-Serial 7s task score was (2.39±0.95) points. The total FMA-UL score of male patients was higher than that of female patients (P<0.05). The total score of FMA-UL in all patients was positively correlated with the total score of MoCA-Attention, the score of Forward Digit Span and Backward Digit Span task, the score of Vigilance task, and the score of Serial 7s task (r=0.226, 0.146, 0.195, 0.182, P<0.05). The total score of FMA-UL in male patients was positively correlated with the total score of MoCA-Attention, the score of Forward Digit Span and Backward Digit Span task, the score of Vigilance task, and the score of Serial 7s task (r=0.236, 0.128, 0.213, 0.197, P<0.05) . Conclusion There is a significant and positive correlation between upper limb motor function and attention after stroke. The correlation between sustained attention and upper limb motor function is higher, and the correlation between attention span and upper limb motor function is lower. After grouping according to gender, the correlation between upper limb motor function and attention in male patients is the same as the above, while the correlation between upper limb motor function and attention in female patients is not significant, and gender may have an impact on the correlation between upper limb motor function and attention.

Keywords

• stroke|upper limb|motor function|attention|correlation analysis