Functional Performance and Community Reintegration of Chronic Post-stroke Survivors in Eastern India

Introduction: Stroke is the primary cause of functional dependency in daily activities leading to disability of the individual. It becomes an economic burden for the person and society. Post-stroke management in rehabilitation gives more emphasis on improving functional performance. The improvement in functional activities of post-stroke survivors makes them independent in their daily activities at home but, still an impediment exists to participate in society and reintegrating into the community. The objective of the study is to find the association of community reintegration with the functional performance of one-year post-stroke survivors in eastern India and to compare their functional independence, community reintegration, and participation in instrumental daily living activities between stroke affection side and stroke subtype of the study group. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional observational study was carried out on post-stroke survivors between 30 and 60 years of age without sex barrier. Ninety-four patients (mean age 54.38±12.06) were recruited for the study. The outcome was measured by the community integration questionnaire (CIQ), Lawton instrumental activities of daily living (LIADL), and functional independence measure (FIM). Results: Spearman rank order correlation was used and found a significant positive correlation persists between FIM to CIQ as the r=0.565 (P=0.01, 95% CI, -0.40%-0.70%) and LIADL  to CIQ r=0.687 (P=0.01, 95% CI, -0.55%-0.79%) FIM to LIADL r=0.532 (P=0.01, 95% CI, -0.36%-0.67%). Mann-Whitney U test was done to compare FIM, LIADL, and CIQ between stroke affection side (right vs left) and stroke sub-type (ischemic vs haemorrhagic), and no significant difference was found. Conclusion: Functional independence, instrumental activities of daily living, and community reintegration are associated with each other. Hence, community reintegration should be incorporated into stroke rehabilitation to maintain a meaningful life as a part of society and family.