Validity of Novel Outcome Measures for Hand Function Performance After Stroke Using Egocentric Video.

Area of Science:

• Rehabilitation Medicine
• Biomedical Engineering
• Neuroscience

Background:

• Assessing upper limb (UL) interventions post-stroke requires measures reflecting real-world function.
• Existing UL use ratios often focus solely on arm usage, potentially missing nuances of hand function.
• Hand use and hand role ratios, particularly from the more-affected hand, may offer deeper insights into stroke recovery.

Purpose of the Study:

• To validate hand use and hand role ratios derived from egocentric video recordings.
• To compare these ratios against established clinical assessments of upper limb function in stroke survivors.

Main Methods:

• Twenty-four stroke survivors used egocentric cameras to record daily activities in simulated and real home environments.
• Spearman's correlation was employed to compare derived ratios with Fugl-Meyer Assessment-Upper Extremity (FMA-UE), Action Research Arm Test (ARAT), and Motor Activity Log-30 (MAL).

Main Results:

• The hand use ratio demonstrated significant correlations with FMA-UE (0.60), ARAT (0.44), MAL-Amount of Use (0.80), and MAL-Quality of Movement (0.79).
• The hand role ratio did not show significant correlations with any of the standardized clinical assessments.

Conclusions:

• Hand use ratio from egocentric video is a valid measure for assessing hand function performance post-stroke.
• Hand role ratio requires further investigation for its utility in clinical assessment.
• Egocentric video offers a novel approach for capturing dynamic hand use in the home environment.