{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,19]],"date-time":"2026-02-19T06:14:22Z","timestamp":1771481662305,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":24,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,19]],"date-time":"2026-02-19T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1771459200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Fujian Provincial Science and Technology Innovation Joint Fund Project","award":["2021Y9130"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2021Y9130"]}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001809","name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["82472602"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["82472602"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001809","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Neurol."],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Malnutrition, frequently indicated by hypoalbuminemia, is prevalent post-stroke and associated with adverse functional outcomes. However, the independent role of serum albumin (ALB) in multidomain functional recovery\u2014encompassing motor, balance, cognitive, and daily living domains\u2014remains underexplored in Chinese populations. This multicenter study aimed to quantify the independent association between serum ALB levels and functional impairment in Chinese post-stroke patients.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>In this cross-sectional study, 1,741 patients from rehabilitation centers across China were enrolled. ALB levels were categorized into quartiles (Q1: &amp;lt;37.7\u202fg\/L; Q2: 37.7\u201340.0\u202fg\/L; Q3: 40.0\u201342.8\u202fg\/L; Q4: \u226542.8\u202fg\/L). Outcomes included motor function (Fugl-Meyer Assessment), activities of daily living (Modified Barthel Index), balance (Berg Balance Scale), and cognition (Montreal Cognitive Assessment). Multivariable linear regression models adjusted for demographics, comorbidities, lesion characteristics, and illness duration. Subgroup analyses tested interactions by age, sex, BMI, and lesion topography.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      Each 1-g\/L ALB increase independently predicted functional gains: FMA (\n                      <jats:italic>\u03b2<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u202f=\u202f1.35, 95% CI: 0.99\u20131.72), ADL (\u03b2\u202f=\u202f1.77, 1.44\u20132.10), BBS (\u03b2\u202f=\u202f1.02, 0.78\u20131.26), MoCA (\u03b2\u202f=\u202f0.30, 0.21\u20130.40) (all\n                      <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u202f&amp;lt;\u202f0.001). Dose-dependent improvements were observed across quartiles (Q4 vs. Q1: FMA \u0394\u03b2\u202f=\u202f15.11 [11.09\u201319.12]; ADL \u0394\u03b2\u202f=\u202f19.35[15.76\u201322.93]; P trend &amp;lt; 0.001). Sex significantly modified ALB-FMA associations (P interaction\u202f=\u202f0.017), with females showing stronger effects (\n                      <jats:italic>\u03b2<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u202f=\u202f1.81 [1.12\u20132.51]) than males (\u03b2\u202f=\u202f1.15 [0.72\u20131.58]). Cerebellar lesions demonstrated non-significant trend toward amplified associations (FMA: \u03b2\u202f=\u202f2.16 [0.72\u20133.59]).\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>ALB levels are independently and dose-dependently associated with motor, ADL, balance, and cognitive function in post-stroke patients. Compared to lower quartiles, patients with ALB \u226542.8\u202fg\/L (highest quartile) exhibit superior functional outcomes. A sex-specific pattern is observed solely in motor function, where the correlation is more pronounced in females. ALB may serve as a biological indicator for risk stratification during stroke rehabilitation.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fneur.2026.1763978","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,19]],"date-time":"2026-02-19T05:23:40Z","timestamp":1771478620000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Association of serum albumin levels with multidomain functional impairment (motor, balance, ADL, and cognitive impairment) in Chinese post-stroke patients: a multicenter cross-sectional study"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"17","author":[{"given":"Jie","family":"Zhu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University","place":["Shanghai, China"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Ranran","family":"Bi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Shanghai East Hospital, School of Medicine, Tongji University","place":["Shanghai, China"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Yansheng","family":"Lin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medicine","place":["Fuzhou, China"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Shuyang","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of Fujian Medical University","place":["Fuzhou, China"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Yifang","family":"Lin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University","place":["Shanghai, China"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Xuezhen","family":"Zhao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University","place":["Shanghai, China"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Jiali","family":"Lin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of Fujian Medical University","place":["Fuzhou, China"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Jie","family":"Jia","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University","place":["Shanghai, China"]},{"name":"National Clinical Research Center for Aging and Medicine, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University","place":["Shanghai, China"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,19]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1811","DOI":"10.1016\/S0140-6736(25)01917-8","article-title":"Global burden of 292 causes of death in 204 countries and territories and 660 subnational locations, 1990-2023: a systematic analysis for the global burden of disease study 2023","volume":"406","year":"2025","journal-title":"Lancet"},{"key":"ref2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"33","DOI":"10.1186\/s40779-023-00463-x","article-title":"China stroke surveillance report 2021","volume":"10","author":"Tu","year":"2023","journal-title":"Mil Med Res"},{"key":"ref3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e897","DOI":"10.1016\/S2468-2667(21)00228-0","article-title":"Temporal trend and attributable risk factors of stroke burden in China, 1990-2019: an analysis for the global burden of disease study 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