Table 1.
Participant characteristics
| N = 207 | |
|---|---|
| Demographic characteristics | |
| Age (years) | |
| Median age (range) | 72 (18–98) |
| <80 years | 139 (67%) |
| Sex | |
| Male | 104 (50%) |
| Female | 103 (50%) |
| Ethnicity | |
| European | 131 (63%) |
| Maori | 10 (5%) |
| Pacific | 30 (15%) |
| Asian | 36 (17%) |
| Stroke risk factors | |
| Hypertension | 133 (64%) |
| Dyslipidemia | 66 (32%) |
| Previous cardiac history | 56 (27%) |
| Atrial fibrillation | 47 (23%) |
| Diabetes mellitus | 43 (21%) |
| Ex‐smoker | 35 (17%) |
| Smoker | 17 (8%) |
| Stroke characteristics | |
| First stroke | |
| yes | 181 (87%) |
| no | 26 (13%) |
| Stroke type (Oxfordshire classification) | |
| Total anterior circulation infarct | 12 (6%) |
| Partial anterior circulation infarct | 74 (36%) |
| Lacunar infarct | 84 (40%) |
| Posterior circulation infarct (excluding cerebellar) | 16 (8%) |
| Intracerebral hemorrhage | 21 (10%) |
| Hemisphere | |
| Right | 108 (52%) |
| Hand | |
| Dominant | 95 (46%) |
| Intravenous thrombolysis | |
| yes | 19 (9%) |
| Endovascular thrombectomy | |
| yes | 3 (1%) |
| Stroke Severity | |
| Mild (NIHSS score 0 – 4) | 112 (54%) |
| Moderate (NIHSS score 5 – 15) | 85 (41%) |
| Severe (NIHSS score ≥ 16) | 10 (5%) |
| Paretic upper limb measures | |
| Baseline SAFE score | |
| Excellent outcome median (range) | 8 (0 – 9) |
| Good outcome median (range) | 6 (0 – 9) |
| Limited outcome median (range) | 1 (0 – 5) |
| Poor outcome median (range) | 0 (0 – 3) |
| Baseline UE‐FM score | |
| Excellent outcome median (range) | 58 (16 – 65) |
| Good outcome median (range) | 43 (6 – 63) |
| Limited outcome median (range) | 13 (2 – 27) |
| Poor outcome median (range) | 7 (4 – 14) |
| 3‐month UE‐FM score | |
| Excellent outcome median (range) | 64 (47 – 66) |
| Good outcome median (range) | 54 (40 – 65) |
| Limited outcome median (range) | 32 (21 – 50) |
| Poor outcome median (range) | 9 (7 – 31) |
Paretic upper limb measures are reported for actual (not predicted) outcome categories, based on Action Research Arm Test score at 3 months (Table 2). NIHSS, National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale; SAFE, Shoulder Abduction, Finger Extension; UE‐FM, upper extremity Fugl‐Meyer.