Factors influencing outcome and length of stay in a stroke rehabilitation unit. Part 1. Analysis of 248 unscreened patients--medical and functional prognostic indicators.

A retrospective analysis of 248 patients with stroke (average age 67, range 17-98) admitted to a stroke rehabilitation unit over a sixteen month period showed that 80% of these patients were able to return home after an average length of stay (LOS) of 43 days. At discharge 85% of the group were ambulatory and 56% required no help in daily living activities. Severity of weakness on admission, long onset-admission intervals, the presence of severe perceptual or cognitive dysfunction or a homonymous hemianopsia in addition to a motor deficit were related to unfavorable outcome and increased LOS. The age of the patient, dysphasia or a hemisensory deficit in addition to weakness, or diabetes, hypertension, or ASHD were unrelated to the patients' functional status on discharge, discharge disposition, or LOS. Many patients with "unfavorable prognostic signs" made significant improvement after admission and were subsequently discharges. Thus, while the above findings may predict which patients can make maximal gains in a short term treatment facility, they also show that most patients, even those with "poor prognostic signs," can make enough functional improvement to be managed at home after a relatively short hospitalization.