Stroke rehabilitation outcome: the Turkish experience.

The objectives of this study were to examine the demographic and clinical characteristics of stroke patients admitted for inpatient rehabilitation, to study the occurrence of medical problems/complications, and to document functional outcome and possible factors influencing outcome. The mean age of this cohort (30 females, 53 males) was 58+/-12 years and the mean length of hospital stay was 45.7+/-23 days. The most common medical comorbidity was hypertension (65%), followed by heart disease (42%) and diabetes mellitus (22%). The length of hospital stay was related to the number of medical comorbidities (r=0.24, P<0.05). Almost all patients experienced several medical problems during rehabilitation stay (average 7.1 events/patient). Shoulder dysfunction (80.7%), symptomatic blood pressure fluctuations (72.3%) and psychosocial problems (57.8%) were among the most common problems. There was a statistically significant improvement in total Functional Independence Measure scores from admission to discharge (56.5 vs. 74.6), with a mean gain of 18.1. Functional Independence Measure gain was significantly correlated with onset to admission time (r=-0.21, P<0.05), length of hospital stay (r=0.50, P<0.001) and the number of previous strokes (r=-0.23, P<0.05), but not with age, onset to admission interval, comorbidities and the presence of medical problems. Discharge total Functional Independence Measure scores were significantly correlated only with the admission total Functional Independence Measure scores (r=0.72, P<0.001) and onset-admission interval (r=-0.23, P<0.05). Significant functional improvements were documented in this cohort of stroke patients after an interdisciplinary rehabilitation approach. Discharge functional status was best correlated with admission functional status. Medical problems/complications were common among patients undergoing stroke rehabilitation. In our patients, functional outcomes were not significantly influenced by the occurrence of medical problems.