Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40980349›Full record

ReviewPhysical therapy research2025

A Scoping Review of Minimal Important Change and Minimal Detectable Change of the Fugl-Meyer Assessment Lower Extremity Scale in Patients with Stroke.

Tetsuharu Nakazono, Satoru Amano, Kazuya Saita, Kayoko Takahashi

Abstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in Physical therapy research, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
–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

3 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. [Personalized lower-limb gait assessment method based on musculoskeletal modeling and machine learning].Sheng wu yi xue gong cheng xue za zhi = Journal of biomedical engineering = Shengwu yixue gongchengxue zazhi · 2026
    Article
  2. Article
  3. Review
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

4 authors.

Tetsuharu NakazonoDepartment of Rehabilitation, Kitasato University Hospital, Japan.
Satoru AmanoDepartment of Rehabilitation, School of Allied Health Sciences, Kitasato University, Japan.
Kazuya SaitaDepartment of Psychosocial Rehabilitation, Graduate School of Biomedical and Health Sciences, Hiroshima University, Japan.
Kayoko TakahashiDepartment of Rehabilitation, School of Allied Health Sciences, Kitasato University, Japan.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectivesIn stroke rehabilitation, the Fugl-Meyer Assessment Lower Extremity (FMA-LE) motor scale is widely used to assess consecutive recovery steps from motor paralysis and predict prognosis after stroke. However, there has been limited opportunity to refer to the useful yet few studies that evaluated the minimal important change (MIC) and the minimal detectable change (MDC) of the FMA-LE motor scale. The aims of this review were to: (1) identify studies that have estimated the MIC and MDC, (2) identify the calculated MIC and MDC values and disease phases in previous studies, and (3) assess the methodological quality of the MIC and MDC studies of the FMA-LE motor scale.

methodsA scoping review was undertaken following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) recommendations. 3 databases (PubMed, CINAHL, and Web of Science) were used for the literature search. Reports of the MIC and MDC of the FMA-LE motor scale in patients with stroke were selected.

results6 studies were included after confirming their eligibility. In the acute phase, inter-rater MDC was 3.23 points. In the early subacute phase, intra-rater MDC was 1.24 points. In the chronic phase, intra-rater MDC was 3.80, 4.87, and 7.98 points, inter-rater MDC was 3.57 and 5.96 points, and MIC was 6.00 points.

conclusionNo late subacute threshold was identified for the MDC, and no acute or subacute threshold was identified for the MIC. Compared with the quality of the MIC study, there is room for improvement in the quality of the MDC studies with respect to study design.

Indexed as

ParesisPsychometricsReproducibilityStroke rehabilitationTreatment outcome

Identifiers

PMID40980349
PMCPMC12445363

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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.