Predictors of change in quality of life after distributed constraint-induced therapy in patients with chronic stroke

Background. There are no reports of predictive models or predictors for quality of life (QoL) after constraint-induced therapy (CIT). Objective. This investigation identified predictors of change in stroke-related QoL after distributed CIT using the Chi-squared Automatic Interaction Detector (CHAID) method. Methods. A total of 58 patients with chronic stroke were treated with CIT for 2 hours daily for 3 weeks. The 7 potential predictors were age, gender, side of lesion, time since stroke, cognitive status, motor impairment of upper extremity, and activities of daily living (ADL). QoL was measured by the Stroke Impact Scale (SIS). CHAID analysis was used to examine for associations between the 7 predictors and each SIS domain. The validity of each model generated by the analysis was evaluated. Results. Daily functional performance as measured by the Functional Independence Measure (FIM) was found to determine SIS outcomes, including overall score (P =.006) and the ADL/instrumental ADL (IADL) domain (P =.004). None of the potential predictors emerged as significant predictors of the strength, memory, emotion, communication, mobility, hand function, and participation domains of SIS. The misclassification risk estimates were small, indicating good validity for the CHAID models. Conclusions. The functional independence score of the FIM can predict the overall SIS score as well as the ADL/IADL domain of the SIS in chronic stroke patients who receive CIT, but larger databases are needed to confirm this. CHAID analysis was a useful approach for an exploratory study.