Cohort study demonstrates significant physical recovery across transitional stroke care, indicating that rehabilitation volume alone does not determine functional gains.
Key Points
To evaluate trajectories in physical function, balance, and quality of life from hospital admission through outpatient care in stroke patients, assessing the impact of rehabilitation volume and comparing outcomes to population norms.
Cohort study of 121 stroke patients (mean age 72 ± 10 years; 35.5% female) followed from hospital admission through outpatient municipal rehabilitation.
Tracked total rehabilitation hours and assessed the 30-s Chair Stand Test (30sCST), Berg Balance Scale (BBS), and EQ-5D-5L across admission, discharge, and outpatient milestones.
Physical function improved significantly throughout rehabilitation (30sCST: 1.63 [0.96; 2.30] to 10.76 [9.47; 12.04] repetitions; p < 0.001), alongside gains in BBS and EQ-5D-5L visual analog scale scores.
The total number of rehabilitation sessions was not significantly associated with the degree of improvement in 30sCST or BBS scores.
Post-rehabilitation function remained significantly below general population benchmarks (30sCST: 11.9 [10.7; 13.2] vs. 16.9 [16.1; 17.7] repetitions; p < 0.001), with persistent deficits in EQ-5D-5L scores.