Post-stroke inpatient rehabilitation. I. Predicting length of stay.

This study was undertaken to identify factors predicting stroke inpatient rehabilitation length of stay in an acute inpatient rehabilitation program, including occupational therapy, physical therapy, and speech therapy. A cohort of 152 patients suffering from stroke (76 women and 76 men) voluntarily participated in this study. They were recruited from a general hospital in which they had received physical rehabilitation. The functional status of patients was observed by a physiotherapist, using the Functional Independence Measure(SM). The functional status was observed on patient admission to rehabilitation and at 1 wk from admission. Post-stroke biologic characteristics, including physical, neuropsychological, and clinical characteristics, as well as sociodemographic characteristics were also collected. A path analysis, using successive multiple linear regressions, was adopted to predict length of stay in rehabilitation. Significant predictors of length of stay were age, functional status at 1 wk post-rehabilitation admission, perceptual status, and balance status. These predictors accounted for 43.6% of the total variance in the rehabilitation length of stay. Indirect predictors of length of stay were identified as the following: functional status at admission, rehabilitation program, motor status, communication problems, and medical complications. Functional, biologic, and sociodemographic characteristics should be considered simultaneously in the prediction of length of stay as well as for the better understanding of the stroke rehabilitation process.