Seven-year trends in stroke rehabilitation: patient characteristics, medical complications, and functional outcomes
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1Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago and Rehabilitation Research, Training Center on Enhancing the Quality of Life of Stroke Survivors, and Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois, USA.
Abstract:
Studies of stroke trends have focused primarily on incidence, mortality, and hospitalization rates. There has been little evaluation of changes over time in the common patient characteristics, medical comorbidities, and functional outcomes of patients. The present study evaluated changes during a 7-year period. We found that while demographic variables, stroke severity, and most stroke characteristics remained relatively stable, disability levels at admission and discharge decreased and frequencies of both medical tube usage and many secondary medical complications increased over time. These changes have important implications for the clinical management of stroke patients in rehabilitation and for the organization and financing of stroke rehabilitation programs.