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Background: A given movement requires precise coordination of multiple muscles under the control of center nervous system. However, detailed knowledge about the changing characteristics of neuromuscular control for multi-muscle coordination in post-stroke hemiplegic patients during standing is still lacking. This study aimed to investigate the hemiplegia-linked neuromuscular dysfunction during standing from the perspective of multi-muscle dynamical coordination by utilizing a novel network approach – weighted recurrence network (WRN). Methods: Ten male hemiplegic patients with first-ever stroke and 10 age-matched healthy male adults were instructed to stand on a platform quietly for 30 s with eyes opened and eyes closed, respectively. The WRN was constructed based on the surface electromyography signals of 16 muscles from trunk, hips, thighs and calves. Relevant topological parameters, including clustering coefficient (C) and average shortest path length (L), were extracted to evaluate the dynamical coordination of multiple muscles. A measure of node centrality in network theory, degree of centrality (DC), was innovatively introduced to assess the contribution of single muscle in the multi-muscle dynamical coordination. The standing-related assessment metric, center of pressure (COP), was provided by the platform directly. Results: Results showed that the post-stroke hemiplegic patients stood with remarkably higher similarity of muscle activation and more coupled intermuscular dynamics, characterized by higher C and lower L than the healthy subjects (p < 0.05). The DC values and rankings of back, hip and calf muscles on the affected side were significantly decreased, whereas those on the unaffected side were significantly increased in hemiplegia group compared with the healthy group (p < 0.05). Without visual feedback, subjects exhibited enhanced muscle coordination and increased muscle involvement (p < 0.05). A decrease in C and an increase in L of WRN were observed with decreased COP areas (p < 0.05). Conclusions: These findings revealed that stroke-induced hemiplegia could significantly influence the neuromuscular control, which was manifested as more coupled intermuscular dynamics, abnormal deactivation of muscles on affected side and compensation of muscles on unaffected side from the perspective of multi-muscle coordination. Enhanced multi-muscle dynamical coordination was strongly associated with impaired postural control. This study provides a novel analytical tool for evaluation of neuromuscular dysfunction and specification of responsible muscles for impaired postural control in stroke-induced hemiplegic patients, and could be potentially applied in clinical practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated the treatment methods used by physical and occupational therapists for poststroke paretic upper limbs and the factors influencing their decision‐making processes. For the treatment methods of poststroke paretic upper limbs, the respondents were asked to select the most clinically used treatment according to the severity of the patient's condition. For the factors influencing their decision‐making processes, the respondents were asked to indicate each determinant using a 5‐point Likert scale (1 = no influence at all to 5 = very strong influence). Six hundred thirty‐eight therapists participated in this study. Exploratory factor analysis was used to assess the validity of the questionnaire. The findings indicated task‐specific training (N = 333, 52%) as the most popular for mild cases, followed by repetitive facilitative exercise (n = 143, 22.3%) for moderate cases and electrical stimulation (n = 246, 38.4%) for severe cases. This study revealed that evidence about treatment (very strong: n = 171 (27.0%), and strong: n = 287 (45.0%)) and patient preferences (very strong: n = 203 (31.8%), and strong: n = 251 (39.3%)) affected decision‐making significantly regarding treatment methods for the poststroke paretic upper limb. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]