Relationship between daily rehabilitation time and functional gain in inpatient rehabilitation medicine of hospitalized older adults with subacute stroke.

Abstract

Igarashi T, Hayashi S, Ogawa K, Matsui S, Nishimatsu T. Relationship between daily rehabilitation time and functional gain in inpatient rehabilitation medicine of hospitalized older adults with subacute stroke. Jpn J Compr Rehabil Sci 2022; 13: 56-63.

Objective: Although there have been reports examining the relationship between daily rehabilitation time and functional gain, few have fully considered background factors such as severity of motor paralysis and comorbidities. This study aimed to examine the relationship between the daily rehabilitation time and improvement in functional status, longitudinally in hospitalized older adults with subacute stroke.

Method: From the results of the Functional Independence Measure (FIM), we calculated the FIM gain and FIM effectiveness, a measure that is less sensitive to the ceiling effect of FIM. Adjusted for covariates, multiple regression analysis was performed for daily rehabilitation time and FIM gain and effectiveness.

Results: This study enrolled 298 hospitalized older adults with subacute stroke (mean age, 78.1 ± 8.1 years, 112 females). The total scores of functional independence measure gain and effectiveness were 31.6 ± 22.5 points and 54.4 ± 35.2%, respectively. There was an association between FIM gain (total score) and total rehabilitation time (β = 0.29, p < 0.01) and between FIM effectiveness (total score) and total rehabilitation time (β = 0.22, p < 0.01).

Conclusions: Although prognosis after stroke is poorer in older adults than in young adults, this study shows that increased daily rehabilitation time may improve functional status.