Upper limb use differs among people with varied upper limb impairment levels early post-stroke: a single-site, cross-sectional, observational study

Background: There is limited knowledge on the upper limb (UL) use early post-stroke by impairment levels. Objectives: To 1) To characterize paretic UL use in people with different UL impairment levels early post-stroke during and outside therapy; 2) compare UL use in people early post-stroke to age-matched controls. Methods: A prospective cross-sectional study of inpatients with first-time stroke 6 h/day (median (IQR): 6.7(3.3); use ratio 0.9(0.3)). Those with moderate impairment demonstrated wide variation of use; 13.3% achieving >6 h use/day (median (IQR): 4.5(3.8); use ratio 0.5(0.2)). People with severe impairment demonstrated limited use. None achieved >6 h/day of use (median (IQR): 1.7(0.7); use ratio 0.3(0.2)). Paretic UL use and use ratio were greater during therapy compared to outside therapy in moderate and severe groups (