Characteristics of the Frenchay Activities Index one year after a stroke: a population-based study

Purpose. To further describe the properties of Frenchay Activities Index (FAI) with special emphasis on relationships with stroke severity and cognition.

Methods. Survivors from a population-based first-ever stroke cohort (n = 246) were assessed with FAI one year post-stroke. At the same time patients were asked about their status pre-stroke. Stroke severity was assessed at baseline with the NIH stroke scale (NIHSS). Cognition was assessed at one year with the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE).

Results. Pre-stroke and post-stroke FAI averaged at 40.1 and 32.4, respectively. There was a floor effect post-stroke, where 17% had the lowest possible score. The sum score was related to age, but not to gender. Individual items, however, were gender-related. NIHSS was clearly related to the difference FAI pre-stroke - post-stroke, but individual variations were large. Individual NIHSS items differed regarding their impact on post-stroke FAI. MMSE post-stroke also has a clear relationship with FAI, but there are large individual variations.

Conclusions. This study establishes a population-based standard for FAI scores one year after a stroke. The effects of stroke severity and cognition have been demonstrated. FAI gives useful information that is not obtained from basic ADL scales, such as the Barthel Index.