Factors and Preferences in Patient Selection of Rehabilitation Care Following Acute Stroke: A Predictive Correlational Study.

Factors and Preferences in Patient Selection of Rehabilitation Care Following Acute Stroke

Background and Purpose Patients with stroke have to receive the rehabilitation care after medical condition has stabilized. In recent years, the long-term care policy offers more options available for rehabilitation care after stroke. However, the selection of care is mainly based on physcicians' advice. This study explores the factors and preferences in patient selection of rehabilitation care following acute stroke, in order to help clinical health professionals incorporate patients' preferences in patient-centred care to properly arrange the stroke rehabilitation care.

Methods This is a cross-sectional and predictive study. Purposive sampling of patients surviving acute stroke is taken in the general ward of a medical center in northern Taiwan. Data are collected with patients' characteristics, National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS), Barthel Index (BI), Modified Rankin Scale (mRS), and factors and preferences in patient selection of rehabilitation care questionnaire. Data are analyzed using IBM SPSS 26.0 for windows. Demographic and clinical characteristics, family support systems and health care systems are compared between patients' preference in the selections of rehabilitation care. Variables with p < .05 are included as potential predictor variables in the subsequent logistic regression analysis. The level of statistical significance is set at α=0.05.

Expected results Demographic and clinical characteristics, family support systems and health care systems are expected as potential predictors of patients' preference in the selection of rehabilitation care.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Age≧18 years old.
• Patients with stroke (International Classification of Disease, ICD 10th edition I60-I68, G45-G46) diagnosed by physicians within 2 weeks after the onset of stroke, including the first and second strokes.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Those with a score of 5 on the Modified Rankin Scale (mRS).
• Those who have been accepted as research subjects have been admitted to hospital again for stroke.
• People living in rehabilitation wards.
• Those with unstable vital signs.
• Those receiving palliative care or care.
• Patients or family members who cannot communicate in Chinese or Taiwanese.