Motor Activity Log (MAL)
What It Measures
The Motor Activity Log asks what a person actually does with their weaker arm at home — not what they can manage in a clinic. It exists because tests of motor capacity consistently overestimate real-world use: someone can perform a task on request and still never use that arm spontaneously.
It is a structured interview covering everyday activities like brushing teeth, picking up a glass, using a fork, or steadying oneself while standing. Each activity gets two ratings on a 0-to-5 scale: Amount of Use, meaning how often the weaker arm was used, and Quality of Movement, meaning how well it worked. A 5 on either means as good as before the stroke. Scores are reported as means.
Further Reading
Additional Notes
Licensing Notes: The training manual is posted free by UAB's CI Therapy program
Learn More: Developed by Edward Taub, Gitendra Uswatte, in the context of Constraint-Induced Movement Therapy research. Taub and Uswatte recommend an upper cut-off of 2.5 on the Amount of Use scale for CIMT eligibility.
