Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39793438›Full record

ArticleThe journal of nutrition, health & aging2025

Initial calf circumference predicts poor disability outcomes in patients with stroke.

Yoichi Sato, Takafumi Abe, Yosuke Kimura, Shu Tanaka, Kazuki Okuda, Ayaki Shirahata, Kenta Yamamoto, Masafumi Nozoe

Abstract readMulticenter Study
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in The journal of nutrition, health & aging, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Observational
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Yoichi SatoDepartment of Rehabilitation, Uonuma Kikan Hospital, Niigata, Japan; Health Promotional Physical Therapy for Stroke Survivors (HEPPS), Japanese Society of Neurological Physical Therapy, Tokyo, Japan.
Takafumi AbeDepartment of Rehabilitation, Uonuma Kikan Hospital, Niigata, Japan; Health Promotional Physical Therapy for Stroke Survivors (HEPPS), Japanese Society of Neurological Physical Therapy, Tokyo, Japan.
Yosuke KimuraHealth Promotional Physical Therapy for Stroke Survivors (HEPPS), Japanese Society of Neurological Physical Therapy, Tokyo, Japan; Faculty of Life Sciences, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Toyo University, Saitama, Japan.
Shu TanakaMajor of Physical Therapy, Department of Rehabilitation, School of Health Sciences, Tokyo University of Technology, Tokyo, Japan; Health Promotional Physical Therapy for Stroke Survivors (HEPPS), Japanese Society of Neurological Physical Therapy, Tokyo, Japan.
Kazuki OkudaDepartment of Rehabilitation, Konan Medical Center, Kobe, Japan.
Ayaki ShirahataDepartment of Rehabilitation, Konan Medical Center, Kobe, Japan.
Kenta YamamotoDepartment of Rehabilitation, Konan Medical Center, Kobe, Japan.
Masafumi NozoeHealth Promotional Physical Therapy for Stroke Survivors (HEPPS), Japanese Society of Neurological Physical Therapy, Tokyo, Japan; Department of Physical Therapy, Faculty of Rehabilitation, Kansai Medical University, Osaka, Japan. Electronic address: masafumi.nozoe@gmail.com.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundCalf circumference (CC), which is easy to measure and noninvasive, may be a predictor of functional outcome in patients with acute stroke. However, the association between CC and long-term functional outcome is unclear. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether low CC is associated with functional outcome at 12 months post-stroke.

methodsThis multicenter retrospective cohort study included patients with acute stroke. Low CC was defined as less than 30 cm for men and 29 cm for women. Poor functional outcome was defined as a modified Rankin Scale (mRS) score of greater than 3 (i.e., 3-6) and the inability to return pre-stroke mRS score at 12 months post-stroke. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed with low CC as the independent variable and outcome as the dependent variable.

resultsThis study included 445 patients (median age 75 years, 277 men). The prevalence of low CC was 26.7%. Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that low CC was significantly associated with poor functional outcome (OR = 3.036, 95% CI: 1.700-5.422, p < 0.001).

conclusionsLow CC at admission in patients with acute stroke is associated with poor functional outcome at 12 months post-stroke. CC, which is easily measured in the acute setting, may serve as a predictor of poor outcomes. Future multicenter prospective interventional studies are needed to clarify the causal relationship between CC and functional outcome.

Indexed as

LegStrokeAgedAged, 80 and overDisability EvaluationFemaleHumansLogistic ModelsMaleMiddle AgedRetrospective StudiesAcuteCalf circumferenceFunctional outcomeStroke

Identifiers

PMID39793438
PMCPMC12179979

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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.