Abstract
Introduction: Stroke is one of the leading cause of disability and death in the United States (Benjamin et al., 2018). Inpatient rehabilitation is the gold standard treatment for post-acute care (Weinstein et al., 2016). Data indicate a discharge to inpatient rehabilitation facilities (IRFs) following the acute stroke phase has increased (Buntin, Colla, & Escarce, 2009). The inpatient milieu provides a unique opportunity to examine predictors of functional outcomes using a captive sample. Thus, the current study aim is to identify factors associated with poststroke functional outcomes throughout inpatient rehabilitation. Method: This is a cross-sectional and retrospective analysis of data extracted from an administrative database during years 2005-2016 from 244,286 stroke patients across 30% of IRFs in the U.S. Inclusion criteria were patients at or above the age 18 with stroke as an admitting diagnosis using ICD 9/10 codes 430-438/I60-I69. Dependent variables were: admission Total FIM, Total FIM efficiency, discharge Total FIM, and length of stay (LOS). Results: Using separate regression analyses, marital status, admit year, type of admission, race/ethnicity, insurance type, sex, age, number of complications, number of comorbidities, and stroke type, emerged as significant predictors of functional outcomes throughout inpatient rehabilitation. Moreover, those with greater comorbidities and complications were associated with lower admission FIM total score, less total FIM efficiency, lower discharge FIM total score, and a longer LOS. Compared to NHWs, racial/ethnic people were associated with lower FIM scores throughout inpatient rehabilitation and a longer length of stay. Discussion: In this robust national dataset, data indicate clinical and sociodemographic factors are significantly associated with poststroke functional outcomes throughout inpatient rehabilitation. Implications are discussed within a framework of social determinants of health.