Journal article

Is Mild Really Mild?: Generating Longitudinal Profiles of Stroke Survivor Impairment and Impact Using Unsupervised Machine Learning

A Adikari, R Nawaratne, D De Silva, DL Carey, A Walsh, C Baum, S Davis, GA Donnan, D Alahakoon, LM Carey

Applied Sciences Switzerland | MDPI | Published : 2024

Abstract

The National Institute of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) is used worldwide to classify stroke severity as ‘mild’, ‘moderate’, or ‘severe’ based on neurological impairment. Yet, stroke survivors argue that the classification of ‘mild’ does not represent the holistic experience and impact of stroke on their daily lives. In this observational cohort study, we aimed to identify different types of impairment profiles among stroke survivors classified as ‘mild’. We used survivors of mild stroke’ data from the START longitudinal stroke cohort (n = 73), with measures related to sensorimotor, cognition, depression, functional disability, physical activity, work, and social adjustment over 12 months. Giv..

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Grants

Awarded by Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation


Funding Acknowledgements

We acknowledge the financial support for the conduct of this research from the Common-wealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization of Australia, Preventative Health Flagship fund; and support for write-up and researchers from the James S. McDonnell Foundation 21st Century Science Initiative in Cognitive Rehabilitation Collaborative Award (#220020413); National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) of Australia Ideas grant (#2004443); NHMRC Centres of Research Excellence in Stroke Rehabilitation and Recovery (#1077898) and Aphasia (#1153236); NHMRC program grant (#1113352); and La Trobe University Post Graduate Research Scholarships awarded to authors (A.A, R.N, A.W.). We thank the survivors of stroke and the START researchers who contributed to the data collected for this study.