ArticleBMJ open2019
Current therapy for the upper limb after stroke: a cross-sectional survey of UK therapists.
Article in BMJ open, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 20 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
20 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Dose, Content, and Context of Usual Care in Stroke Upper Limb Motor Interventions: A Systematic Review.Clinical rehabilitation · 2023Pooled it
- Trial
- Trial
- Can the early use of botulinum toxin in post stroke spasticity reduce contracture development? A randomised controlled trial.Clinical rehabilitation · 2021Trial
- Robot-assisted training compared with an enhanced upper limb therapy programme and with usual care for upper limb functional limitation after stroke: the RATULS three-group RCT.Health technology assessment (Winchester, England) · 2020Trial
- Article
- Understanding digital health technology implementation in rehabilitation and development of the Rehabilitation Technologies Implementation model.NPJ digital medicine · 2026Article
- Evaluation of an intensive, private, community, upper limb rehabilitation program for people with chronic stroke: a mixed methods case series.Frontiers in rehabilitation sciences · 2026Article
- UPBEAT Trial: a randomised feasibility evaluation of a digital system for UPper limB rEhabilitation After sTroke.Pilot and feasibility studies · 2025Article
- Article
- Implementing constraint-induced movement therapy into practice in sub-acute stroke: Experiences and perceptions of stroke survivors and therapists.The British journal of occupational therapy · 2024Article
- Exploring stroke survivors' and physiotherapists' perspectives of the potential for markerless motion capture technology in community rehabilitation.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitation · 2024Article
- Factors Influencing Decision-Making for Poststroke Paretic Upper Limb Treatment: A Survey of Japanese Physical and Occupational Therapists.Occupational therapy international · 2024Article
- The stratified effects of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation in upper limb motor impairment recovery after stroke: a meta-analysis.Frontiers in neurology · 2024Article
- Personalised Online Upper-Limb Physiotherapy for Stroke Survivors during the Inpatient Phase: A Feasibility Study.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- An Intensive Exercise Program Using a Technology-Enriched Rehabilitation Gym for the Recovery of Function in People With Chronic Stroke: Usability Study.JMIR rehabilitation and assistive technologies · 2023Article
- Evaluating the Dissemination and Implementation Impact of a Rehabilitation Intervention: The Graded Repetitive Arm Supplementary Program (GRASP).Physiotherapy Canada. Physiotherapie Canada · 2023Article
- A focus group study of therapists' views on using a novel neuroanimation virtual reality game to deliver intensive upper-limb rehabilitation early after stroke.Archives of physiotherapy · 2022Article
- SaeboGlove therapy for upper limb disability and severe hand impairment after stroke (SUSHI): Study protocol for a randomised controlled trial.European stroke journal · 2021Article
- To stimulate or not to stimulate? A rapid systematic review of repetitive sensory stimulation for the upper-limb following stroke.Archives of physiotherapy · 2020Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesTo survey the reported content, frequency and duration of upper limb treatment provided by occupational and physiotherapists for people after stroke in the UK.
designA cross-sectional online survey was used. Description and analysis of the data were based on items from the Template for Intervention Description and Replication (Who, Where, What and How much).
settingThe online survey was distributed via professional and social networks to UK-based therapists.
participantsRespondents were occupational or physiotherapists currently working clinically in the UK with people after stroke. Over the 6 week data collection period, 156 respondents opened the survey, and 154 completed it. Respondents comprised 85 physiotherapists and 69 occupational therapists.
resultsRespondents reported treating the upper limb a median of three times a week (range: 1 to 7) for a mean of 29 min (SD: 18). Most (n=110) stated this was supplemented by rehabilitation assistants, family and/or carers providing additional therapy a median of three times a week (range 1 to 7). Functional training was the most commonly reported treatment for people with mild and moderate upper limb deficits (>40%). There was much less consistency in treatments reported for people with severe upper limb deficits with less than 20% (n=28) reporting the same treatments.
conclusionsThis study provides a contemporaneous description of reported therapy in the UK for people with upper limb deficits after stroke and a detailed template to inform standard therapy interventions in future research. Several evidence-based therapies were reported to be used by respondents (eg, constraint induced movement therapy), but others were not (eg, mental imagery). The findings also highlight that the current reported provision of upper limb therapy is markedly less than what is likely to be effective. This underlines an urgent need to configure and fund services to empower therapists to deliver greater amounts of evidence-based treatment for people with upper limb deficits after stroke.
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Registered trials
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