Exploring Expectations for Upper-Extremity Motor Treatment in People After Stroke: A Secondary Analysis

OBJECTIVE: We explored expectations for outcomes during a research intervention for people with stroke. METHOD: Twelve people with chronic stroke participated in this secondary analysis from a pilot trial of a high-repetition, task-specific, upper-extremity intervention. First, we examined relationships between individual expectancy and session-by-session achievement of high numbers of repetitions. Second, we examined the relationship between expectancy for the intervention as a whole and improvements in upper-extremity motor function. We used Spearman rank-order correlation coefficients to evaluate the relationships. RESULTS: Correlations between individual expectancy and session-by-session achievement ranged from 0 to .84. Expectancy for improvement from the intervention was good (average = 7 of 10) but had a low correlation (.17) with actual improvement. CONCLUSION: Individual expectancy ratings were inconsistently related to session-by-session achievement. Expectancy for the invention as a whole was not related to improvement in upper-extremity motor function.