Clinical Research Directory

Inclusion Criteria: * (1) inpatients diagnosed with acute infarct (ischemic, e.g., large artery atherosclerosis, cardioembolism, and small vessel occlusion) stroke; * (2) stroke onset occurs within three days of admission; * (3) aged greater than 20 years and under 80 years; * (4) able to communicate with verbal or nonverbal methods and understand Mandarin; * (5) normal cognitive function (Mini-Mental State Examination≥ 21); * (6) neurologic disability ranged from 1 (able to execute all usual duties and activities despite some symptoms) to 4 (moderately severe , eg., unable to attend to own bodily needs without assistance, and unable to walk unassisted) score evaluated by the modified Rankin Scale (mRS); * (7) agreed to be randomly assigned Exclusion Criteria: * (1) diagnosed with a transient ischemic attack combined with visual and hearing impairment; * (2) neurologic disability were mRS: 0 (no symptoms) or 5 score (severe disability: requires constant nursing care and attention, bedridden, incontinent) and above; * (3) an acute/chronic nerve or musculoskeletal injury in lower limbs, or history of bone and joint surgery of low extremities in the past six months; * (4) a history of cancer, end-stage renal disease with dialysis, dementia, mental health disorders (particularly major depression), based on both of medical records and assessments from the neurologist; * (5) patients transferred from other wards or intensive care units; * (6) being unable to participate due to other comorbid neurological and musculoskeletal conditions that produce moderate-to-severe physical disability; * (7) prolonged stay in hospital for over 21 days due to other medical comorbidities (e.g., myocardial infarction, septic shock, cancer) after admission or length of stay in hospital less than one week due to a decline to treatment and transfer to another hospital for further confirmation of diagnosis and other complementary and alternative therapies.