Mobility status after inpatient stroke rehabilitation: 1-year follow-up and prognostic factors

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the stability of mobility status achieved by stroke patients during hospital rehabilitation treatment over time and to identify reliable prognostic factors associated with mobility changes. DESIGN: Follow-up evaluation in consecutive first-ever stroke patients 1 year after hospital discharge. Multiple logistic regressions were used to analyze increases and decreases in Rivermead Mobility Index (RMI) scores (dependent variables) between discharge and follow-up. Independent variables were medical, demographic, and social factors. SETTING: Rehabilitation hospital. PATIENTS: A cohort of 155 patients with sequelae of first stroke, with a final sample of 141. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Mobility status at 1-year follow-up, as measured by the RMI, and odds ratios (OR) for improvement and decline in mobility. RESULTS: Functionally, 19.9% improved the mobility levels achieved during the inpatient rehabilitation treatment; levels of 42.6% worsened. Patients with global aphasia (OR = 5.66; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.50-21.33), unilateral neglect (OR = 3.01; 95% CI, 1.21-7.50), and age 75 years or older (OR = 5.77; 95% CI, 1.42-23.34) had a higher probability of mobility decline than the remaining patients. Postdischarge rehabilitation treatment (PDT), received by 52.5% of the final sample, was significantly and positively associated with mobility improvement (OR = 5.86; 95% CI, 2.02-17.00). Absence of PDT was associated with a decline in mobility (OR = 3.73; 95% CI, 1.73-8.04). CONCLUSIONS: In most cases, mobility status had not yet stabilized at hospital discharge. PDT was useful in preventing a deterioration in mobility improvement achieved during inpatient treatment and in helping increase the likelihood of further mobility improvement.