title: The Effect of Anemia on the Functional Outcomes of the Stroke Patients and the Efficiency of their Stroke Rehabilitation.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  There has been limited study focusing on the functional outcomes of stroke patients' after rehabilitation, such as functional improvement and discharge destination, length of stay (LOS), and complication rate.
  
  
  METHODS
  A retrospective study was conducted on 123 consecutive patients who were admitted to The Prince Charles Hospital Rehabilitation Unit from January 2011 to December 2012 with clinically defined stroke syndromes. Functional Independence Measure (FIM) score was used to measure the functional improvement. Anemia is defined by using the World Health Organization's criteria (hemoglobin concentration in men <120 mg/dL and in women <110 mg/dL).
  
  
  RESULTS
  During the 2-year period, of the 123 stroke patients, 33 were found to be anemic (26.8%). The demographic factors, baseline admission FIM score, comorbidities, and the types of stroke were all comparable in both anemic and nonanemic groups. It was found that, when selecting only the patients with ischemic stroke for comparison (103 patients), there was a significantly higher FIM score improvement (discharge FIM - admission FIM) in nonanemic group (P = .042). FIM efficiency (FIM change/LOS) was also significantly higher in the nonanemic group (P = .027). Higher percentage of patients were discharged home in nonanemic group (94.3% versus 73.3%, P = .006). In addition, higher rate of complications was found in anemic group (60% versus 39%, P = .049).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Anemia appears to have a significant effect on the functional improvement and discharge outcomes for patients who had an ischemic stroke. Anemia may also increase the complication rate and affect the efficiency of stroke rehabilitation for those patients.
authors: Geriatric and Rehabilitation Department, Internal Medicine Services, The Prince Charles Hospital, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Electronic address: tikshunchan@hotmail.com.
authors: Tik
authors: T
authors: Chan
authors: Geriatric and Rehabilitation Department, Internal Medicine Services, The Prince Charles Hospital, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
authors: Ganesh
authors: G
authors: Ganasekaran
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000740:Anemia / Q000150:complications*; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D020127:Recovery of Function; D012047:Rehabilitation Centers; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D020521:Stroke / Q000150:complications; D000071939:Stroke Rehabilitation; D016896:Treatment Outcome
keywords: Anemia; complications; functional outcomes; rehabilitation; rehabilitation efficiency; stroke