This research project will investigate the efficacy of RT in sequential combination with dCIT relative to the therapies given alone and study the factors relevant to outcomes prediction to inform clinical practice. There will be 3 primary purposes in this comprehensive research:~Ⅰ. We will examine the effects of RT combined with dCIT (RT + dCIT) compared to RT, dCIT, and a dose-matched control therapy (DMCT) in stroke patients. Outcome domains will include motor, sensory, and muscle functions, amount of arm activity in real-life situations, patient-reported outcomes of daily performance and quality of life, and kinematic performance at before treatment, midterm assessment, and after treatment. In addition, potential adverse effects including post-exertional fatigue, post-exertional pain, and a biomarker of oxidative stress will be examined. We hypothesized that the therapeutic regimen combining RT with dCIT will contribute to more significantly reduction in impairment and disability for stroke patients than the other intervention groups.~Ⅱ. We will investigate if the demographical and clinical characteristics of stroke patients may significantly predict the probability of achieving clinically significant changes of treatment outcomes. The proposed candidate predictors will be chronicity, side of lesion, muscle tone, finger extension, motor function of distal upper limb (UL), and amount of real-life arm activity.~Ⅲ. We will examine whether the improvements after treatments are clinically important and will assess clinimetric properties of the outcome measures to establish the clinical significance relevant for individualized stroke rehabilitation. We will also assess and compare the clinimetric properties (e.g., validity, responsiveness, minimal detectable change, and minimal clinically important difference) of the rehabilitation outcomes to inform selection of instruments.
There are 3 specific study purposes. First, we will examine the treatment effects of RT combined with dCIT (RT + dCIT) compared to RT, dCIT, and a dose-matched control therapy (DMCT) in stroke patients. Outcome domains will include motor, sensory, and muscle functions, amount of arm activity in real-life situations, patient-reported outcomes of daily performance and quality of life, and kinematic performance. Additionally, potential adverse effects including fatigue, pain, and a biomarker of oxidative stress will be examined. Second, we will investigate if the demographical and clinical characteristics of stroke patients may predict the probability of achieving clinically important changes of treatment outcomes. Thirdly, this study will examine whether the improvements after treatment reach clinically important or not and assess clinimetric properties of the outcome measures.