Predicting discharge functional status and rehabilitation efficiency from preadmission functional assessments

Various indicators have been used to predict functional change and outcome in stroke rehabilitation. One previous study indicated that functional assessments performed prior to rehabilitation admission correlated well with functional status at discharge and also were indicative of rehabilitation efficiency scores. The present study attempted to replicate these findings in a study of 14 additional stroke patients admitted to an inpatient unit; data collection on additional patients is ongoing. Patients' weekly Functional Independence Measure (FIM) scores were assessed, together with their preadmission FIM score (PFM) and other clinical data. As in the previous study, PFM scores correlated well with functional ratings made by the team following admission (r = 0.78), and with discharge FIM scores (r = 0.68). Patients with PFM scores of 30 or less had much lower rehabilitation efficiency ratios (0.62) than those with PFM scores greater than 30 (0.97). Finally, in a multiple regression equation with discharge functional status as the dependent variable, PFM scores accounted for almost as much of the variance (47%) as FIM scores obtained during the first week of admission (63%). Overall, the results obtained were remarkably consistent with the previous study cited. The current results imply that the use of preadmission functional ratings may be a valid and useful way to predict functional change and efficiency of inpatient rehabilitation admission.