Stroke Research and Treatment最新文献

{"title":"Does Action Observation of the Whole Task Influence Mirror Neuron System and Upper Limb Muscle Activity Better Than Part Task in People With Stroke?","authors":"A Sulfikar Ali, Mayur Bhat, Hari Prakash Palaniswamy, Selvam Ramachandran, Senthil D Kumaran","doi":"10.1155/2024/9967369","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1155/2024/9967369","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p><b>Background:</b> Task-based action observation and imitation (AOI) is a promising intervention to enhance upper limb (UL) motor function poststroke. However, whether whole/part task must be trained in the AOI therapy needs further substantiation. <b>Objective:</b> The objective of this study is to assess and compare the mirror neuron activity and UL muscle activity during AOI of reaching task in terms of whole task (complete movement) and part task (proximal arm movements and distal arm movements). <b>Methods:</b> In this cross-sectional study, 26 participants with first-time unilateral stroke were asked to observe the prerecorded videos of a reaching task in terms of a whole task and proximal and distal components, followed by imitation of the task, respectively. Electroencephalographic (EEG) mu rhythm suppression and electromyographic amplitude of six UL muscles were measured during the task. <b>Results:</b> The analysis of EEG revealed a statistically significant mu suppression score, indicating mirror neuron system activity, during AOI of the whole task in C3 (<i>p</i> = <0.001) and C4 (<i>p</i> = <0.001) electrodes compared to the part task. Percentage maximum voluntary contraction amplitudes of the deltoid (<i>p</i> = 0.002), supraspinatus (<i>p</i> = <0.001), triceps brachii (<i>p</i> = 0.002), brachioradialis (<i>p</i> = 0.006), and extensor carpi radialis (<i>p</i> = <0.001) muscles showed a significant increase in muscle activity during AOI of the whole task. Also, there seems to be a task observation-specific activation of muscles following AOI of proximal or distal tasks. <b>Conclusion:</b> The practice of the whole task should be given emphasis while framing the AOI treatment module to enhance reaching in people with stroke. <b>Trial registration:</b> Clinical Trials Registry-India (CTRI) identifier: CTRI/2018/04/013466.</p>","PeriodicalId":22054,"journal":{"name":"Stroke Research and Treatment","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2024-10-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11470815/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142475215","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Intelligent Stroke Disease Prediction Model Using Deep Learning Approaches","authors":"Chunhua Gao, Hui Wang","doi":"10.1155/2024/4523388","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1155/2024/4523388","url":null,"abstract":"Stroke is a high morbidity and mortality disease that poses a serious threat to people’s health. Early recognition of the various warning signs of stroke is necessary so that timely clinical intervention can help reduce the severity of stroke. Deep neural networks have powerful feature representation capabilities and can automatically learn discriminant features from large amounts of data. This paper uses a range of physiological characteristic parameters and collaborates with deep neural networks, such as the Wasserstein generative adversarial networks with gradient penalty and regression network, to construct a stroke prediction model. Firstly, to address the problem of imbalance between positive and negative samples in the stroke public data set, we performed positive sample data augmentation and utilized WGAN-GP to generate stroke data with high fidelity and used it for the training of the prediction network model. Then, the relationship between observable physiological characteristic parameters and the predicted risk of suffering a stroke was modeled as a nonlinear mapping transformation, and a stroke prediction model based on a deep regression network was designed. Finally, the proposed method is compared with commonly used machine learning-based classification algorithms such as decision tree, random forest, support vector machine, and artificial neural networks. The prediction results of the proposed method are optimal in the comprehensive measurement index F. Further ablation experiments also show that the designed prediction model has certain robustness and can effectively predict stroke diseases.","PeriodicalId":22054,"journal":{"name":"Stroke Research and Treatment","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2024-05-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141103881","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Acute Ischaemic Stroke in Patients Treated with Direct Oral Anticoagulants: Potential Causes, Clinical Characteristics, and Short-Term Outcomes","authors":"Katarzyna Sawczyńska, E. Włodarczyk, Aleksandra Pawlicka, Bartosz Kołodziejczyk, Paweł Wrona, Kamil Wężyk, T. Homa, Paulina Sarba, Dominik Wróbel, Kaja Zdrojewska, Maria Sobolewska, Dawid Rolkiewicz, Agnieszka Słowik","doi":"10.1155/2024/2285722","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1155/2024/2285722","url":null,"abstract":"Introduction. Direct oral anticoagulants (DOAC) are the first-line treatment for primary and secondary acute ischaemic stroke (AIS) prevention in patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF), but a significant percentage of patients develop AIS despite being treated with DOAC. As the number of DOAC-treated patients is growing, so is the number of patients with AIS on DOAC. The aim of the study was to assess the incidence of AIS with prestroke DOAC treatment among patients hospitalised in the University Hospital in Kraków, to analyse the clinical characteristics of AIS occurring in patients on DOAC, and to identify potential causes of treatment ineffectiveness in this group. Materials and Methods. In the study, we included all patients hospitalised in the Department of Neurology of the University Hospital in Kraków within one year (July 2022 to June 2023) with the diagnosis of AIS. The group was divided into two subgroups of patients with and without prestroke DOAC treatment. Based on medical files, we retrospectively analysed the profile of cardiovascular risk factors, stroke severity (assessed with National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale, NIHSS), use of causative stroke treatment and short-term outcomes (defined as NIHSS score, modified Rankin scale (mRS) score at discharge, in-hospital mortality, and secondary intracerebral haemorrhage among patients treated with mechanical thrombectomy, MT). Within the DOAC-treated subgroup, we looked for potential causes of AIS occurring despite DOAC treatment (valvular AF, poor adherence to treatment, underdosing, other prothrombotic conditions, aetiology of stroke other than thromboembolic, and drug-drug interactions). Results. In the study, we included 768 AIS patients. 109 (14.2%) had a history of prestroke DOAC treatment. A potential cause of DOAC treatment failure was identified in the majority of them (n=63, 57.8%). Patients with prestroke DOAC treatment had worse functional condition before stroke and higher stroke severity on admission but similar short-term outcomes and similar short-term effects of treatment with MT. DOAC (+) and DOAC (-) patients had different profiles of cardiovascular risk factors and different factors associated with short-term outcome. Conclusions and Clinical Implications. A potential cause of AIS occurring in DOAC-treated patients can be identified in most cases and in many of them prevented.","PeriodicalId":22054,"journal":{"name":"Stroke Research and Treatment","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2024-02-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139786521","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Acute Ischaemic Stroke in Patients Treated with Direct Oral Anticoagulants: Potential Causes, Clinical Characteristics, and Short-Term Outcomes","authors":"Katarzyna Sawczyńska, E. Włodarczyk, Aleksandra Pawlicka, Bartosz Kołodziejczyk, Paweł Wrona, Kamil Wężyk, T. Homa, Paulina Sarba, Dominik Wróbel, Kaja Zdrojewska, Maria Sobolewska, Dawid Rolkiewicz, Agnieszka Słowik","doi":"10.1155/2024/2285722","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1155/2024/2285722","url":null,"abstract":"Introduction. Direct oral anticoagulants (DOAC) are the first-line treatment for primary and secondary acute ischaemic stroke (AIS) prevention in patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF), but a significant percentage of patients develop AIS despite being treated with DOAC. As the number of DOAC-treated patients is growing, so is the number of patients with AIS on DOAC. The aim of the study was to assess the incidence of AIS with prestroke DOAC treatment among patients hospitalised in the University Hospital in Kraków, to analyse the clinical characteristics of AIS occurring in patients on DOAC, and to identify potential causes of treatment ineffectiveness in this group. Materials and Methods. In the study, we included all patients hospitalised in the Department of Neurology of the University Hospital in Kraków within one year (July 2022 to June 2023) with the diagnosis of AIS. The group was divided into two subgroups of patients with and without prestroke DOAC treatment. Based on medical files, we retrospectively analysed the profile of cardiovascular risk factors, stroke severity (assessed with National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale, NIHSS), use of causative stroke treatment and short-term outcomes (defined as NIHSS score, modified Rankin scale (mRS) score at discharge, in-hospital mortality, and secondary intracerebral haemorrhage among patients treated with mechanical thrombectomy, MT). Within the DOAC-treated subgroup, we looked for potential causes of AIS occurring despite DOAC treatment (valvular AF, poor adherence to treatment, underdosing, other prothrombotic conditions, aetiology of stroke other than thromboembolic, and drug-drug interactions). Results. In the study, we included 768 AIS patients. 109 (14.2%) had a history of prestroke DOAC treatment. A potential cause of DOAC treatment failure was identified in the majority of them (n=63, 57.8%). Patients with prestroke DOAC treatment had worse functional condition before stroke and higher stroke severity on admission but similar short-term outcomes and similar short-term effects of treatment with MT. DOAC (+) and DOAC (-) patients had different profiles of cardiovascular risk factors and different factors associated with short-term outcome. Conclusions and Clinical Implications. A potential cause of AIS occurring in DOAC-treated patients can be identified in most cases and in many of them prevented.","PeriodicalId":22054,"journal":{"name":"Stroke Research and Treatment","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2024-02-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139846385","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Evaluation of Contralateral Limb Cross Education and High-Frequency Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation on Functional Indices of the Affected Upper Limb in Subacute Phase of Stroke","authors":"Katayoon Rezaei, Amin Kordi Yoosefinejad, Farzaneh Moslemi Haghighi, Mohsen Razeghi","doi":"10.1155/2023/4387667","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1155/2023/4387667","url":null,"abstract":"Background. Stroke is one of the causes of long-term morbidity. Despite rehabilitation strategies, most survivors live with motor deficits in the upper limbs. Objectives. The aim of the study was to compare the effect of contralateral cross education (CE) and high-frequency repetitive magnetic stimulation (HF-rTMS) on the function of upper extremity in subacute phase of stroke. Methods. Forty patients were randomly assigned into 4 groups. Group “A” received physical therapy (PT) for 10 sessions, 3 times per week. Group “B” received PT and HF-rTMS as follows: stimulation of 20 Hz for 5 s, intertrain interval for 50 s, 20 trains, 2000 pulses at 90% resting motor threshold, and conventional PT. Group “C” was treated with CE and PT. In group “D,” HF-rTMS, CE, and PT were administered. Results. Significant differences were found in the Fugl-Meyer scale between “A” and “C” (\u0000 \u0000 P\u0000 =\u0000 0.01\u0000 \u0000 ), “A” and “D” (\u0000 \u0000 P\u0000 =\u0000 0.02\u0000 \u0000 ), and “B” and “C” groups (\u0000 \u0000 P\u0000 =\u0000 0.01\u0000 \u0000 ). In the box-block test, there were significant differences between “A” and “B” (\u0000 \u0000 P\u0000 =\u0000 0.01\u0000 \u0000 ), “A” and “C” (\u0000 \u0000 P\u0000 <\u0000 0.001\u0000 \u0000 ), “B” and “D” (\u0000 \u0000 P\u0000 =\u0000 0.001\u0000 \u0000 ), and “B” and “C” groups (\u0000 \u0000 P\u0000 =\u0000 0.01\u0000 \u0000 ). Statistical differences were observed in grip strength between “A” and “B” (\u0000 \u0000 P\u0000 =\u0000 0.01\u0000 \u0000 ) and “A” and “C” groups (\u0000 \u0000 P\u0000 =\u0000 0.02\u0000 \u0000 ). Conclusions. It is suggested that clinicians select the therapeutic methods in line with their expected goal. When the goal is to improve upper extremity function, CE+PT could be more effective than HF-rTMS+PT. Also, CE+PT and HF-rTMS+PT were more effective than CE+HF-rTMS+PT at improving grip strength. Therefore, combining several methods would not always lead to better results.","PeriodicalId":22054,"journal":{"name":"Stroke Research and Treatment","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2023-12-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138960073","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"External Validation of SAFE Score to Predict Atrial Fibrillation Diagnosis after Ischemic Stroke: A Retrospective Multicenter Study","authors":"Miguel Quesada López, L. Amaya Pascasio, Sara Blanco Madera, Jorge Pagola, Diana Vidal de Francisco, Elena de Celis Ruiz, Inmaculada Villegas Rodríguez, Joaquín Carneado-Ruiz, J. García‐Carmona, Juan Manuel García Torrecillas, Ana López Ferreiro, Iker Elosua Bayes, Ricardo Jaime Rigual Bobillo, María Isabel López López, Íñigo Esain González, María Dolores Ortega Ortega, Marina Blanco Ruiz, Irene Pérez Ortega, Carlos Lázaro Hernández, Blanca Fuentes Gimeno, A. Arjona Padillo, Patricia Martínez Sánchez","doi":"10.1155/2023/6655772","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1155/2023/6655772","url":null,"abstract":"Introduction. The screening for atrial fibrillation (AF) scale (SAFE score) was recently developed to provide a prediction of the diagnosis of AF after an ischemic stroke. It includes 7 items: \u0000 \u0000 a\u0000 g\u0000 e\u0000 ≥\u0000 65\u0000 \u0000 years, bronchopathy, thyroid disease, cortical location of stroke, intracranial large vessel occlusion, NT-ProBNP ≥250 pg/mL, and left atrial enlargement. In the internal validation, a good performance was obtained, with an \u0000 \u0000 A\u0000 U\u0000 C\u0000 =\u0000 0.88\u0000 \u0000 (95% CI 0.84-0.91) and sensitivity and specificity of 83% and 80%, respectively, for \u0000 \u0000 s\u0000 c\u0000 o\u0000 r\u0000 e\u0000 s\u0000 ≥\u0000 5\u0000 \u0000 . The aim of this study is the external validation of the SAFE score in a multicenter cohort. Methods. A retrospective multicenter study, including consecutive patients with ischemic stroke or transient ischemic attack between 2020 and 2022 with at least 24 hours of cardiac monitoring. Patients with previous AF or AF diagnosed on admission ECG were excluded. Results. Overall, 395 patients were recruited for analysis. The SAFE score obtained an \u0000 \u0000 A\u0000 U\u0000 C\u0000 =\u0000 0.822\u0000 \u0000 (95% CI 0.778-0.866) with a sensitivity of 87.2%, a specificity of 65.4%, a positive predictive value of 44.1%, and a negative predictive value of 94.3% for a SAFE \u0000 \u0000 s\u0000 c\u0000 o\u0000 r\u0000 e\u0000 ≥\u0000 5\u0000 \u0000 , with no significant gender differences. Calibration analysis in the external cohort showed an absence of significant differences between the observed values and those predicted by the model (Hosmer-Lemeshow’s test 0.089). Conclusions. The SAFE score showed adequate discriminative ability and calibration, so its external validation is justified. Further validations in other external cohorts or specific subpopulations of stroke patients might be required.","PeriodicalId":22054,"journal":{"name":"Stroke Research and Treatment","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2023-12-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138590566","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Modeling Survival Time to Death among Stroke Patients at Jimma University Medical Center, Southwest Ethiopia: A Retrospective Cohort Study.","authors":"Bikiltu Wakuma Negasa, Teramaj Wongel Wotale, Mesfin Esayas Lelisho, Legesse Kassa Debusho, Kibrealem Sisay, Wubishet Gezimu","doi":"10.1155/2023/1557133","DOIUrl":"10.1155/2023/1557133","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Stroke is a life-threatening condition that occurs due to impaired blood flow to brain tissues. Every year, about 15 million people worldwide suffer from a stroke, with five million of them suffering from some form of permanent physical disability. Globally, stroke is the second-leading cause of death following ischemic heart disease. It is a public health burden for both developed and developing nations, including Ethiopia.</p><p><strong>Objectives: </strong>This study is aimed at estimating the time to death among stroke patients at Jimma University Medical Center, Southwest Ethiopia.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>A facility-based retrospective cohort study was conducted among 432 patients. The data were collected from stroke patients under follow-up at Jimma University Medical Center from January 1, 2016, to January 30, 2019. A log-rank test was used to compare the survival experiences of different categories of patients. The Cox proportional hazard model and the accelerated failure time model were used to analyze the survival analysis of stroke patients using R software. An Akaike's information criterion was used to compare the fitted models.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Of the 432 stroke patients followed, 223 (51.6%) experienced the event of death. The median time to death among the patients was 15 days. According to the results of the Weibull accelerated failure time model, the age of patients, atrial fibrillation, alcohol consumption, types of stroke diagnosed, hypertension, and diabetes mellitus were found to be the significant prognostic factors that contribute to shorter survival times among stroke patients.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>The Weibull accelerated failure time model better described the time to death of the stroke patients' data set than other distributions used in this study. Patients' age, atrial fibrillation, alcohol consumption, being diagnosed with hemorrhagic types of stroke, having hypertension, and having diabetes mellitus were found to be factors shortening survival time to death for stroke patients. Hence, healthcare professionals need to thoroughly follow the patients who pass risk factors. Moreover, patients need to be educated about lifestyle modifications.</p>","PeriodicalId":22054,"journal":{"name":"Stroke Research and Treatment","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2023-11-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10733594/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138831586","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Effect of Self-Directed Home Therapy Adherence Combined with TheraBracelet on Poststroke Hand Recovery: A Pilot Study.","authors":"Gabrielle Scronce, Viswanathan Ramakrishnan, Amanda A Vatinno, Na Jin Seo","doi":"10.1155/2023/3682898","DOIUrl":"10.1155/2023/3682898","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Hand impairment is a common consequence of stroke, resulting in long-term disability and reduced quality of life. Recovery may be augmented through self-directed therapy activities at home, complemented by the use of rehabilitation devices such as peripheral sensory stimulation. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of adherence to self-directed therapy and the use of TheraBracelet (subsensory random-frequency vibratory stimulation) on hand function for stroke survivors. In a double-blind, randomized controlled pilot trial, 12 chronic stroke survivors were assigned to a treatment or control group (<i>n</i> = 6/group). All participants were instructed to perform 200 repetitions of therapeutic hand tasks 5 days/week while wearing a wrist-worn device 8 hours/day for 4 weeks. The treatment group received TheraBracelet vibration from the device, while the control group received no vibration. Home task repetition adherence and device wear logs, as well as hand function assessment (Stroke Impact Scale Hand domain), were obtained weekly. Repetition adherence was comparable between groups but varied among participants. Participants wore the device to a greater extent than adhering to completing repetitions. A linear mixed model analysis showed a significant interaction between repetition and group (<i>p</i> = 0.01), with greater adherence resulting in greater hand function change for the treatment group (<i>r</i> = 0.94; <i>R</i> ² = 0.88), but not for the control group. Secondary analysis revealed that repetition adherence was greater for those with lower motor capacity and greater self-efficacy at baseline. This pilot study suggests that adherence to self-directed therapy at home combined with subsensory stimulation may affect recovery outcomes in stroke survivors. This trial is registered with NCT04026399.</p>","PeriodicalId":22054,"journal":{"name":"Stroke Research and Treatment","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2023-03-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10017223/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"9377934","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The Burden and In-Hospital Mortality of Stroke Admissions at a Tertiary Level Hospital in Namibia: A Retrospective Cohort Study.","authors":"Saara Ndinelago Neshuku,&nbsp;Jessica Kirchner-Frankle,&nbsp;Maria Nangolo,&nbsp;Maria Moses,&nbsp;Chalese Olivia Einbeck,&nbsp;Percy Kumire,&nbsp;Vaja Zatjirua,&nbsp;Justor Banda","doi":"10.1155/2023/1978536","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1155/2023/1978536","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Despite stroke being a leading cause of morbidity and mortality globally, there is a dearth of information on the burden and outcomes of stroke in sub-Saharan Africa and Namibia in particular.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>A hospital-based, retrospective cohort study was conducted to analyse non-electronic medical records of all consecutive stroke patients who were admitted to one of the highest tertiary-level hospitals in Namibia for 12 months (2019-2020). The primary outcome of the study was to establish the in-hospital mortality, stroke subtypes, and associated complications.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>In total, 220 patients were included in the study, their mean age was 53 (SD13.8) years, and 55.5% were males. 61.0% had an ischaemic stroke (IS), and 39.0% had a haemorrhagic stroke (HS). The mean age was significantly lower in patients with HS vs. IS (48.2 ± 12.2 vs. 56.1 ± 13.3, <i>p</i> < 0.001). Of the IS patients, the majority (29.0%) had total anterior circulation infarct (TACI), while in the HS group, 34.0% had basal ganglia haemorrhage with or without intraventricular extension. Hypertension (<i>p</i> = 0.015), dyslipidaemia (<i>p</i> = 0.001), alcohol consumption (<i>p</i> = 0.022), and other cardiovascular diseases (<i>p</i> = 0.007) were more prevalent in patients with IS compared to those with HS. The prevalence rate of intravenous thrombolysis was 2.2% in IS and use of intravenous antihypertensives in 25.9% of patients with HS than IS. The in-hospital mortality was 26.4% with complications such as raised ICP, aspiration pneumonia, hydrocephalus, and sepsis significantly high in those that died. Aspiration pneumonia (OR 2.79, 95% CI 1.63-4.76, <i>p</i> < 0.001) and increased ICP (OR 0.30, 95% CI 0.16-057, <i>p</i> < 0.001) were independent predictors of in-hospital mortality on the multivariate analysis.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Our findings showed a younger mean age for stroke and mortality rate comparable to other low- to middle-income countries (LMICs). Hypertension and alcohol consumption were the main risk factors for both stroke subtypes, while aspiration pneumonia and raised intracranial pressure predicted in-hospital mortality.</p>","PeriodicalId":22054,"journal":{"name":"Stroke Research and Treatment","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9908341/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"10707567","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Conventional Mirror Therapy versus Immersive Virtual Reality Mirror Therapy: The Perceived Usability after Stroke.","authors":"Eliana da Silva Jaques,&nbsp;Anelise Ineu Figueiredo,&nbsp;Aniuska Schiavo,&nbsp;Bianca Pacheco Loss,&nbsp;Gabriel Hoff da Silveira,&nbsp;Vicenzo Abichequer Sangalli,&nbsp;Denizar Alberto da Silva Melo,&nbsp;Léder Leal Xavier,&nbsp;Márcio Sarroglia Pinho,&nbsp;Régis Gemerasca Mestriner","doi":"10.1155/2023/5080699","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1155/2023/5080699","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Stroke is a widespread and complex health issue, with many survivors requiring long-term rehabilitation due to upper-limb impairment. This study is aimed at comparing the perceived usability of two feedback-based stroke therapies: conventional mirror therapy (MT) and immersive virtual reality mirror therapy (VR).</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>The study involved 45 participants, divided into three groups: the stroke survivors (<i>n</i> = 15), stroke-free older adults (<i>n</i> = 15), and young controls (<i>n</i> = 15). Participants performed two tasks using both MT and VR in a semirandom sequence. Usability instruments (SUS and NASA-TLX) were applied at the end of the activities, along with two experience-related questions.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The results indicated that both MT and VR had similar levels of perceived usability, with MT being more adaptable and causing less overall discomfort. Conversely, VR increased the perception of task difficulty and prevented participants from diverting their attention from the mirror-based feedback.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>While VR was found to be less comfortable than MT, both systems exhibited similar perceived usability. The comfort levels of the goggles may play a crucial role in determining the usability of VR for upper limb rehabilitation after stroke.</p>","PeriodicalId":22054,"journal":{"name":"Stroke Research and Treatment","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10234727/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"9575856","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}