A recent UCLA-led study found that many stroke patients do not receive much rehabilitation therapy after a stroke, even though higher levels can improve long-term disability. The study followed over 500 patients across 28 acute care hospitals in the first year after a stroke.

A welcome finding of the current study, published in the peer-reviewed journal Stroke, is that patients with more severe strokes received more rehabilitation therapy than patients with less severe strokes.

According to experts, the brain is set to undergo maximum rewiring in the first few weeks following a stroke to help patients get back on their feet. Rehabilitation therapy aids in this rehabilitation to the fullest extent possible, yet, our study revealed that most patients only receive modest amounts of rehabilitation therapy.

Results showed that many of the study′s patients who were followed up did not receive any form of rehabilitation after their stroke. A third of patients had not had physical treatment, nearly half had not received occupational therapy, and more than six in ten had not received speech therapy after three months.

Among those who received rehabilitation therapy, the typical number of sessions was six to eight by three months following their stroke and between zero and one and a half sessions the rest of the year.

Also, patients who were sent after being admitted to the hospital mattered. Despite the severity of the stroke, patients who were sent home received the least amount of rehabilitation therapy. Patients from Hispanic backgrounds received significantly less occupational and physical treatment.

Thus the study concluded that future studies must look into the viability of giving stroke patients higher rehabilitation therapy doses and ensure their well-being.

(Source: https://theprint.in/health/research-reveals-patients-receive-too-little-rehab-therapy-after-stroke/1358013/)