Functional recovery of community stroke patients

Purpose: The aims were to describe the functional abilities of and services provided to stroke patients not admitted to hospital a year after stroke a nd to investigate factors associated with receiving rehabilitation services . Method: A cohort of stroke patients who had not been admitted to hospital w ere notified by general practitioners. Patients were assessed at a month an d a year after stroke on measures of impairment and disability. The rehabil itation received was recorded. There were 124 stroke patients notified by G P's who had not been admitted to hospital. Of these 70 were assessed at bot h one month and one year after stroke. Results: Patients showed persistent impaired levels of disability one year after stroke, as measured by the Extended Activities of Daily Living (EADL) scale. There was no significant improvement in Barthel scores and only a s light improvement on the EADL from one month to one year after stroke. Ther e were no patients with severe mobility or severe arm impairment. Most pati ents had some cognitive impairment but there was no significant change betw een a month and a year. The provision of rehabilitation services increased between a month and a year after stroke. Rehabilitation was provided to tho se patients with impaired motor function. Conclusions: Stroke patients not admitted to hospital have significant leve ls of disability which does not change substantially in the year after stro ke. Rehabilitation was provided on the basis of physical function, rather t han cognitive function.