Information about the study

Stroke is a leading cause of disability that affects people in many different ways. Arm weakness is common after stroke and can greatly interfere with a person’s daily life. When a stroke first happens, it’s useful to know how much someone will recover, especially for the arm. Currently, however, recovery is hard to predict.

The VERIFY Study will find out whether we can use tests done early after stroke to predict a person’s arm recovery during the months that follow a stroke.

Why would we want to predict arm recovery? During the months after a stroke, some people recover all the way, some people don’t recover at all, and many people have a partial recovery. If we can predict how a person will do in the coming months, we can choose the right rehabilitation therapies more quickly and more accurately. And if we know what lies in the months ahead, we can plan better.

Previous research studies have found several tests that might help doctors and therapists predict arm recovery. This study will see whether these tests are useful predictors in a larger group of people.

Please consider taking part if you or a loved one has had a stroke in recent days, and they have been admitted to one of the hospitals taking part in the VERIFY study.

A person who is in the VERIFY Study will have some testing done within the first week of stroke (while they are still in the hospital), then a phone call 1 month after stroke, then a clinic visit 3 months after stroke. There is no charge to be in the study, and participants receive $150 for their time and up to $40 for study-related travel costs.

Any questions are best directed to personnel running the VERIFY study at each hospital. General questions can be sent to verifystudy@ucmail.uc.edu