Effects of Transferring to the Rehabilitation Ward on Long-Term Mortality Rate of First-Time Stroke Survivors: A Population-Based Study

Objective: To assess the long-term health outcomes of acute stroke survivors transferred to the rehabilitation ward.

Design: Long-term mortality rates of first-time stroke survivors during hospitalization were compared among the following sets of patients: patients transferred to the rehabilitation ward, patients receiving rehabilitation without being transferred to the rehabilitation ward, and patients receiving no rehabilitation.

Setting: Retrospective cohort study.

Participants: Patients (N = 11,419) with stroke from 2005 to 2008 were initially assessed for eligibility. After propensity score matching, 390 first-time stroke survivors were included.

Interventions: None.

Main outcome measure: Cox proportional hazards regression model was used to assess differences in 5-year poststroke mortality rates.

Results: Based on adjusted hazard ratios (HRs), the patients receiving rehabilitation without being transferred to the rehabilitation ward (adjusted HR, 2.20; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.36-3.57) and patients receiving no rehabilitation (adjusted HR, 4.00; 95% CI, 2.55-6.27) had significantly higher mortality risk than the patients transferred to the rehabilitation ward. Mortality rate of the stroke survivors was affected by age ≥65 years (compared with age <45y; adjusted HR, 3.62), being a man (adjusted HR, 1.49), having ischemic stroke (adjusted HR, 1.55), stroke severity (Stroke Severity Index [SSI] score≥20, compared with SSI score<10; adjusted HR, 2.68), and comorbidity (Charlson-Deyo Comorbidity Index [CCI] score≥3, compared with CCI score=0; adjusted HR, 4.23).

Conclusions: First-time stroke survivors transferred to the rehabilitation ward had a 5-year mortality rate 2.2 times lower than those who received rehabilitation without transfer to the rehabilitation ward and 4 times lower than those who received no rehabilitation.