Background and Aims:
A stroke is a sudden disruption of brain functions. Stroke is the second leading cause of death worldwide, with millions of people experiencing physical and/or mental disabilities. Rehabilitation promotes patients' functional recovery; however, investigations of the factors that may facilitate or impede rehabilitation are needed. The aim of this study was to explore how the type of stroke and the associated impairments impact patients' perceptions of improvement following their discharge from physical therapy.
Methods:
A cross-sectional sample was recruited in Saudi Arabia between 2021 and 2022. The participants comprised 41 adults who had had a stroke and completed a rehabilitation program. They provided demographic data, completed a questionnaire regarding their stroke type and related impairments, and rated their perceived stroke improvements using the global rating of change. The sample size was computed using G*Power, which indicated that 40 participants were needed.
Results:
Higher perceived improvements were reported by the patients with ischemic stroke (n = 35) than those with hemorrhagic stroke (n = 6; odds, 8.420) and the patients with weakness (n = 35) than those with no weakness (n = 6; odds, 30.629) after completing their rehabilitation program (p < .05). The main findings were that having an ischemic stroke (vs. a hemorrhagic stroke) and reporting weakness (vs. no weakness) significantly increased the likelihood of the patients reporting greater improvements after completing the physical therapy rehabilitation program.
Conclusions:
Rehabilitation benefited ischemic stroke survivors more than hemorrhagic stroke survivors. Stroke survivors with weakness benefited the most from rehabilitation when compared to those with no weakness.
Key words: Stroke, rehabilitation, Stroke recovery
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