Authors (including presenting author) :
Tsang HT(1), Chan PSA(1)
Affiliation :
(1) Occupational Therapy Department, Tai Po Hospital
Introduction :
Evidence from clinical trials and neuroplasticity literatures suggest that more therapy time will lead to improved functional recovery after stroke. Increased therapy has been linked to improvements in functional ability of people with stroke. However, in-patient stroke rehabilitation in Hong Kong rehabilitation hospitals was limited in weekdays but not available in weekends and public holidays in the past. Additional in-patient rehabilitation therapy services for people with stroke only started in recent years.
Objectives :
(1) To determine the effectiveness on improvement of functional ability of additional restorative rehabilitation on weekends and public holidays for in-patients with stroke. (2) To investigate the change of length of rehabilitation hospital stay for people with stroke receiving additional restorative rehabilitation.
Methodology :
Patients admitted with a primary diagnosis of stroke (ICD9 430-436.99) were included. A retrospective cohort study of both groups of patients with and without additional weekend rehabilitation therapy were compared. The outcome measures included the length of rehabilitation hospital stay (LOS), Modified Barthel Index (MBI), Hong Kong Montreal Cognitive Assessment (HK-MoCA) and the Hong Kong version of Functional Test for the Hemiplegic Upper Extremity (FTHUE-HK).
Result & Outcome :
Four hundred eighty-three stroke patients were reviewed for Oct 2018 to Sep 2019. 396 patients received additional weekend and public holidays rehabilitation therapy. There was no significant difference in the mean LOS (p=0.72). Mean change in HK-MoCA (p=0.51) and FTHUE-HK (p=0.8) for the two patient groups were not significant. However, there was a significant improvement in mean of MBI (p< 0.01) for patients with 365 restorative rehabilitation sessions.
