SynthesisJournal of neuroengineering and rehabilitation2021
Smoothness metrics for reaching performance after stroke. Part 1: which one to choose?
Synthesis in Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitation, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 27 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
27 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 54 citations in OpenAlex.
- Quantifying Quality of Reaching Movements Longitudinally Post-Stroke: A Systematic Review.Neurorehabilitation and neural repair · 2022Pooled it
- Are Isokinetic Torque-Angle Models Derived from Healthy Subjects Applicable to Patients with Upper-Limb Neurological Motor Impairment?Annals of biomedical engineering · 2026Trial
- REAsmash-ET: a methodological framework for combined cognitive and motor assessment through eye-tracking and kinematic metrics in immersive VR search-and-reach task.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitation · 2025Trial
- A robotic rehabilitation intervention in a home setting during the Covid-19 outbreak: a feasibility pilot study in patients with stroke.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitation · 2025Trial
- Applications of Reinforcement Learning for Autonomous Surgical Robotics: A Systematic Review.Biomimetics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Feasibility, Usability, and Preliminary Kinematic Outcomes of a Hand-Tracking Virtual Reality Rehabilitation System Delivered as an Adjunct to Conventional Therapy in Individuals with Stroke: A Single-Arm Pilot Study.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- A Virtual Reality Dataset to Support Hand Action Observation in Rehabilitation and Motor Learning Studies.Scientific data · 2026Article
- Movement smoothness matters: The missing piece in the functional assessment of rotator cuff patients. Insights from a stereophotogrammetry experimental study.Journal of experimental orthopaedics · 2026Article
- Movement smoothness at term-equivalent age is associated with motor developmental delay in preterm infants.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Phase-Specific Biomechanical Characterization of Upper Limb Movements in Stroke.Bioengineering (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Hierarchical clustering approach to movement smoothness and temporal adaptation in rhythmic step aerobics training in middle aged women.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Trial-By-Trial Variation In Upper Extremity Movement Smoothness After Acute Stroke Relates To Clinical Assessments And Corticospinal Tract Injury.Neurorehabilitation and neural repair · 2025Article
- Relearning Upper Limb Proprioception After Stroke Through Robotic Therapy: A Feasibility Analysis.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Article
- In Parkinson's disease, dual-tasking reduces gait smoothness during the straight-walking and turning-while-walking phases of the Timed Up and Go test.BMC sports science, medicine & rehabilitation · 2025Article
- Smooth Moves: Comparing Log Dimensionless Jerk Metrics from Body Center of Mass Trajectory and Wearable Sensor Acceleration During Walking.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Phase-specific multimodal biomarkers enable explainable assessment of upper limb dysfunction in chronic stroke.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2025Article
- Measurement properties of movement smoothness metrics for upper limb reaching movements in people with moderate to severe subacute stroke.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitation · 2024Article
- Multifeature quantitative motor assessment of upper limb ataxia including drawing and reaching.Annals of clinical and translational neurology · 2024Article
- Extended reality to assess post-stroke manual dexterity: contrasts between the classic box and block test, immersive virtual reality with controllers, with hand-tracking, and mixed-reality tests.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitation · 2024Article
- Extended physiological proprioception is affected by transhumeral Socket-Suspended prosthesis use.Journal of biomechanics · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
11 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundSmoothness is commonly used for measuring movement quality of the upper paretic limb during reaching tasks after stroke. Many different smoothness metrics have been used in stroke research, but a 'valid' metric has not been identified. A systematic review and subsequent rigorous analysis of smoothness metrics used in stroke research, in terms of their mathematical definitions and response to simulated perturbations, is needed to conclude whether they are valid for measuring smoothness. Our objective was to provide a recommendation for metrics that reflect smoothness after stroke based on: (1) a systematic review of smoothness metrics for reaching used in stroke research, (2) the mathematical description of the metrics, and (3) the response of metrics to simulated changes associated with smoothness deficits in the reaching profile.
methodsThe systematic review was performed by screening electronic databases using combined keyword groups Stroke, Reaching and Smoothness. Subsequently, each metric identified was assessed with mathematical criteria regarding smoothness: (a) being dimensionless, (b) being reproducible, (c) being based on rate of change of position, and (d) not being a linear transform of other smoothness metrics. The resulting metrics were tested for their response to simulated changes in reaching using models of velocity profiles with varying reaching distances and durations, harmonic disturbances, noise, and sub-movements. Two reaching tasks were simulated; reach-to-point and reach-to-grasp. The metrics that responded as expected in all simulation analyses were considered to be valid.
resultsThe systematic review identified 32 different smoothness metrics, 17 of which were excluded based on mathematical criteria, and 13 more as they did not respond as expected in all simulation analyses. Eventually, we found that, for reach-to-point and reach-to-grasp movements, only Spectral Arc Length (SPARC) was found to be a valid metric.
conclusionsBased on this systematic review and simulation analyses, we recommend the use of SPARC as a valid smoothness metric in both reach-to-point and reach-to-grasp tasks of the upper limb after stroke. However, further research is needed to understand the time course of smoothness measured with SPARC for the upper limb early post stroke, preferably in longitudinal studies.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.