Prediction of functional outcomes in stroke inpatients receiving rehabilitation.
OBJECTIVE
Early identification of predictive factors relevant to functional outcomes for stroke patients is important to the establishment of an effective continuing care program. The objective of this study was to identify the predictive factors related to functional outcome at discharge after stroke rehabilitation therapy.


METHODS
105 first-time stroke patients admitted to the inpatient rehabilitation department of a university-based medical center were recruited for this prospective study. The functional outcomes of the patients were assessed at admission and at discharge using the Functional Independence Measure (FIM). Severity of stroke was determined using the Canadian Neurological Scale (CNS). Age, gender, side of hemiplegia (SIDE), type of stroke (TYPE), onset to admission interval (OAI), and length of rehabilitation stay (LORS) were also included as predictor variables.


RESULTS
The mean (+/- SD) FIM score at discharge (76.6 +/- 26.4) correlated strongly (r = 0.78, p < 0.001) with the admission FIM score (56.3 +/- 24.1), moderately (r = 0.46, p < 0.001) with the admission CNS score (6.1 +/- 2.2), negatively (r = -0.38, p < 0.001) with age (63.2 +/- 12.3 years), negatively (r = -0.26, p = 0.009) with OAI (24.2 +/- 16.0 days), and negatively (r = -0.29, p = 0.002) with LORS (34.7 +/- 16.8 days). Stepwise regression analyses indicated that admission FIM score, age, and admission CNS score were the strongest predictors of functional outcome and accounted for 66% of the total variation in discharge FIM total score. The admission FIM score was the best predictor and accounted for 61% of the variation.


CONCLUSIONS
The findings of this study imply that the admission FIM scores for inpatients receiving stroke rehabilitation can be used to predict functional outcomes at discharge from hospital.
Lin
Jau-Hong
JH
School of Physical Therapy, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
Hsieh
Ching-Lin
CL
Lo
Sing-Kai
SK
Hsiao
Shih-Fen
SF
Huang
Mao-Hsiung
MH
D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007297:Inpatients; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011446:Prospective Studies; D020127:Recovery of Function; D000071939:Stroke Rehabilitation; D013624:Taiwan