The rehabilitation of elderly stroke patients

Therapies for physical and cognitive impairments and functional disabilities can usually begin within several days of an acute stroke. The geriatric patient challenges the rehabilitation team's assessment and management skills because of the premorbid medical and psychosocial problems of many of the elderly. About 75% of 1-month survivors will walk and 60% will be able to care for themselves with supervision or independently within 3 months. We provide an overview for the common problems in mobility, activities of daily living, communication, nutrition and swallowing, behavior, continence, sexual function and social support that require careful analysis and specific measures to improve the quality of life of the disabled patient. As useful interventions are better defined through prospective, rigorous clinical trials, and as neuro-scientific discoveries about basic neural mechanisms after injury come to be applied, we will see a yet more complete and meaningful recovery of function following stroke.