Fugl-Meyer Assessment
A standardized scale assessing movement quality and coordination in the affected limbs, widely used to track motor recovery over time.
Post-stroke assessment typically combines standardized scales evaluating movement, strength, and function with more general observation of gait, balance, and use of the affected limb during daily tasks.
Because new stroke symptoms or medical complications can occur during recovery, clinicians remain alert to a specific set of red-flag signs throughout the rehabilitation process.
Assessment tests
Modified Ashworth Scale
A clinical scale grading the degree of resistance felt when moving a joint through its range, used to quantify spasticity severity.
Berg Balance Scale
A standardized set of balance tasks used to quantify balance function and monitor progress and fall risk during recovery.
Timed 10-meter walk test
Timing how long it takes to walk a set distance provides an objective, easily repeated measure of walking function and recovery progress.
Functional Independence Measure
A broad scale assessing independence across self-care, mobility, and cognitive tasks, commonly used to track overall rehabilitation progress.
Red flags
These warrant prompt clinical review rather than unsupervised exercise progression.
New sudden weakness, facial drooping, or speech difficulty
These are classic warning signs of a new or recurrent stroke (often remembered by the FAST acronym) and require immediate emergency medical attention.
Sudden severe headache
A new, unusually severe headache can indicate a hemorrhagic event and warrants urgent evaluation, particularly in someone with stroke risk factors.
New difficulty swallowing
New or worsening difficulty swallowing raises concern for aspiration risk and typically prompts a swallowing evaluation before continuing oral intake as usual.
Signs of blood clot in the leg
Swelling, warmth, and pain in one leg during recovery, particularly with reduced mobility, raises concern for deep vein thrombosis and requires prompt medical evaluation.
This combination of standardized functional scales and vigilant red-flag screening allows the rehabilitation team to track meaningful progress while remaining alert to the medical complications that can occur during stroke recovery.