Functional outcome of hemorrhagic and nonhemorrhagic stroke patients after in-patient rehabilitation

Differences in functional prognosis for patients with hemorrhagic and nonhemorrhagic strokes are unclear. The purpose of this study is to compare the functional outcome of hemorrhagic and nonhemorrhagic stroke patients after inpatient stroke rehabilitation. By retrospective review, 25 hemorrhagic stroke patients were matched with 25 nonhemorrhagic stroke patients on the basis of age and onset to admission interval. Discharge Functional Independence Measure (FIM), FIM gain, FIM efficiency, length of stay (LOS), and discharge disposition were compared. Admission FIM, gender, and comorbidities were similar between the two groups. There were no differences in discharge FIM, FIM gain, and discharge to home rates between groups. However, the hemorrhagic group had a significantly shorter LOS (31.7 v 37.6 days; P = 0.05) with higher FIM-total efficiency (0.84 v 0.60; P = 0.02). The FIM-motor scale accounted for most of the gains in efficiency (0.71 v 0.53; P = 0.05) with no significant difference in FIM-cognition efficiency between groups. Post hoc analysis revealed that onset to admission interval was a strong predictor of LOS (r = 0.62; P < 0.0001). Hemorrhagic stroke patients appear to exhibit functional gains somewhat faster than nonhemorrhagic counterparts. Confirmation of these preliminary findings must await future studies.