RESUMO
BACKGROUND: In post-stroke rehabilitation, positive use of affected limbs in daily life is important to improve affected upper-limb function. Several studies have quantitatively evaluated the amount of upper-limb activity, but few have measured finger usage. In this study, we used a ring-shaped wearable device to measure upper-limb and finger usage simultaneously in hospitalized patients with hemiplegic stroke and investigated the association between finger usage and general clinical evaluation. METHODS: Twenty patients with hemiplegic stroke in an inpatient hospital participated in this study. All patients wore a ring-shaped wearable device on both hands for 9 h on the day of the intervention, and their finger and upper-limb usage were recorded. For the rehabilitation outcome assessments, the Fugl-Meyer Assessment of the Upper Extremity (FMA-UE), Simple Test for Evaluating Hand Function (STEF), Action Research Arm Test (ARAT), Motor Activity Log-14 (MAL), and Functional Independence Measure Motor (FIM-m) were performed and evaluated on the same day as the intervention. RESULTS: Finger usage of the affected hand was moderately correlated with STEF ([Formula: see text], [Formula: see text]) and STEF ratio ([Formula: see text], [Formula: see text]). The finger-usage ratio was moderately correlated with FMA-UE ([Formula: see text], [Formula: see text]) and ARAT ([Formula: see text], [Formula: see text]), and strongly correlated with STEF ([Formula: see text], [Formula: see text]) and STEF ratio ([Formula: see text], [Formula: see text]). The upper-limb usage of the affected side was moderately correlated with FMA-UE ([Formula: see text], [Formula: see text]), STEF ([Formula: see text], [Formula: see text]) and STEF ratio ([Formula: see text], [Formula: see text]), and strongly correlated with ARAT ([Formula: see text], [Formula: see text]). The upper-limb usage ratio was moderately correlated with ARAT ([Formula: see text], [Formula: see text]) and STEF ([Formula: see text], [Formula: see text]), and strongly correlated with the STEF ratio ([Formula: see text], [Formula: see text]). By contrast, there was no correlation between MAL and any of the measurements. CONCLUSIONS: This measurement technique provided useful information that was not biased by the subjectivity of the patients and therapists.