Stroke rehabilitation. Has it proven worthwhile?

Although rehabilitation services have been provided for stroke patients for several decades, no well-designed controlled studies have actually correlated statistically significant outcomes with a set of therapeutic guidelines. This paper reviews five recently published studies which attempted to evaluate the relative benefit of rehabilitation for victims of stroke. Relevant issues concerning study design are examined in the context of each report. Considering both the growing impact of this illness as well as the paucity of accurate information on the benefits of rehabilitative therapy, Congress should allocate funds to invoke a national stroke registry as a first step toward future analyses of stroke care needs.