## 4 Discussion  
Using the L-STIFF tool, the measured values of the paretic legs were greater than those of the non-paretic legs during the basal assessments (T0) and these value differences were statistically \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c c c c c} \hline \hline  & \multicolumn{6}{c}{**L-ROM *** (\({}^{\circ}\))**} & \multicolumn{6}{c}{\(p\)**-Value * [FOOTNOTE:*]Footnote * \(p\)-value obtained using Wilcoxon signed-rank test; statistically significant at \(p<0.05\); ns = non-significant. ** \({}^{\star}\)** L-ROM = Lower limb-range of motion. \({}^{1}\)\(P1\) = \(p\)-value comparing L-ROM at basal assessments (T0) between paretic legs and non-paretic legs. \({}^{2}\)\(P2\) = \(p\)-value comparing L-ROM at one-month follow-up (T1) between paretic legs and non-paretic legs. \({}^{3}\)\(P3\) = \(p\)-value comparing L-ROM of paretic legs at T0 and T1. \({}^{4}\)\(P4\) = \(p\)-value comparing L-ROM of non-paretic legs at T0 and T1. \\ \hline
**Knee** & 19.00 & \(\pm\)20.73 & 21.60 & \(\pm\)19.94 & 58.20 & \(\pm\)16.25 & 60.30 & \(\pm\)18.43 & \(<\)0.01 & \(<\)0.01 & ns & ns \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}  
* \(p\)-value obtained using Wilcoxon signed-rank test; statistically significant at \(p<0.05\); ns = non-significant. ** \({}^{\star}\)** L-ROM = Lower limb-range of motion. \({}^{1}\)\(P1\) = \(p\)-value comparing L-ROM at basal assessments (T0) between paretic legs and non-paretic legs. \({}^{2}\)\(P2\) = \(p\)-value comparing L-ROM at one-month follow-up (T1) between paretic legs and non-paretic legs. \({}^{3}\)\(P3\) = \(p\)-value comparing L-ROM of paretic legs at T0 and T1. \({}^{4}\)\(P4\) = \(p\)-value comparing L-ROM of non-paretic legs at T0 and T1.  
\end{table} 
Table 4: Mean and standard deviation (SD) of the L-ROM (range of motion) measures (\({}^{\circ}\)) for paretic and non-paretic limbs at basal assessments (T0) and one-month follow-up (T1). Figure 3: L-ROM (lower limb-range of motion) measures (mean) of paretic and non-paretic limb at basal assessments T0 and one-month follow-up T1. significant except for knee flexion at an angular velocity of 30\({}^{\circ}\)/s. Analogous results were observed at one-month follow-up (T1) except for hip extension at 22.50\({}^{\circ}\)/s and at 90\({}^{\circ}\)/s. This means an increased resistance to the passive joint movement of paretic legs in comparison with non-paretic legs, that is, greater stiffness [8]. Since stiffness is related to the patient's spasticity, these data allow to deduce that spasticity was already present during the early post-stroke phase and that the L-STIFF tool was able to measure these stiffness changes. Spasticity is a motor complication of strokes that usually occurs gradually from the acute phase to the chronic phase. Although some authors suggest that spasticity is rare during the first month after stroke [26; 27; 28], recent studies suggest that spasticity occurs during the early period following stroke [29] as it occurred to the subjects of this study. The detected differences in the data between the paretic and non-paretic legs were statically significant even though a cohort of only 10 subjects was used. As in other studies, this tool delivered consistent results [11; 13]. Using L-FORCE and L-ROM tools, the measured values for both joint torque and range of motion (ROM) of the paretic legs were lower than those of the non-paretic legs at T0 and these value differences were statistically significant. Analogous results were observed at T1 except for hip flexion torque. These results are consistent since after a stroke both joint torque and ROM are affected in the paretic leg probability due to decline of the excitability of descending motor pathways [28; 29] and the changes in the rate of coding and recruitment of paretic motor units [30]. Therefore, L-FORCE and L-ROM tools were able to measure the joint toque and ROM changes between paretic and non-paretic legs during the subacute phase of stroke.