Rehabilitation of stroke patients: clinical profile and functional outcome

To describe the nature of functional recovery of 67 Turkish survivors of first-episode stroke who were referred for inpatient rehabilitation and to identify the variables that best predict discharge functional status of these patients.

A retrospective, descriptive study of the demographic and clinical profile and the functional status of patients with first-episode stroke.

The mean age was 60 (11.8, SD) yr, and 35.8% were men. The mean onset-admission interval and length of stay were 62.9 and 97.1 days, respectively. The mean functional status score, as measured by the FIM instrument, at the time of admission was 75 compared with 86.7 at the time of discharge, showing a mean improvement of 11.7. Although rehabilitation gains were similar for the right- and left-side involved groups, patients with right-side paresis had lower FIM scores at the time of admission than did the left-side involved group. Significant predictors of functional status at the time of discharge were admission functional status score and onset-admission interval.

Knowledge of these predictors can contribute to more appropriate treatment and discharge planning.