Observational Study of Hemiplegic Shoulder Pain After Recent Stroke

Observational Study to Investigate Proportion of Patients With Hemiplegic Shoulder Pain Within 72 Hours Post-stroke and at Follow-up 8-10 Weeks Later.

This is an observational study to address the following questions.

1. How many people develop stroke-shoulder pain within 3 days of stroke?
2. How many people have stroke shoulder pain at 8-10 weeks after stroke?
3. Does having stroke-shoulder pain within 3 days of stroke predict the likelihood of having stroke-shoulder pain at 8-10 weeks?
4. What are the best bedside examination tests to identify stroke-shoulder pain?

Patients will be assessed very early after stroke (within 72 hours) and followed up 8-10 weeks later. Findings will enable planning of fully-powered randomised controlled trials of both, pain-prevention strategies and treatment.

Inclusion Criteria:

- Clinical diagnosis of haemorrhagic or ischaemic stroke

Exclusion Criteria:

• Transient Ischaemic attack,
• Neurological symptoms due to causes other than acute stroke,
• Unconscious,
• Severe behavioural disturbance,
• Severe agitation,
• Severe dementia,
• For palliation,
• Totally unable to communicate using any method - written, verbal, pictures, gesture