Ten Recommendations for Improving Research on Stroke Motor Rehabilitation: A Unified Perspective

Stroke motor rehabilitation research is critical for improving functional recovery and quality of life. However, the success of therapeutic interventions is highly dependent on the theoretical basis and methodological rigor of the studies that evaluate them. This paper outlines ten essential recommendations/guidelines for stroke motor rehabilitation research aimed at enhancing the scientific quality and reliability of findings. Our recommendations span issues related to mechanistic understanding, methodological rigor, and transparency, while providing specific suggestions for implementation in the context of stroke motor rehabilitation research. To improve our mechanistic understanding of how and why an intervention works, these guidelines emphasize the importance of having a clear scientific rationale for the active ingredient in the proposed therapy (e.g., physical or occupational therapy), ensuring manipulation checks for key therapeutic components, and assessing outcomes at multiple levels using the ICF framework. To improve methodological rigor, the paper also highlights the necessity of adequately dose-matched control groups, minimizing baseline imbalances and biased treatment effects through randomization and blinding, and employing larger sample sizes to minimize the risk of false-positive trials. Finally, to enhance transparency and reproducibility, we advocate for pre-registering outcomes and protocols, performing robustness checks, presenting data in multiple formats, and the publication of open data. We anticipate that following these recommendations will pave the way for more reliable, impactful results that advance the development of effective therapeutic interventions.