Interdisciplinary Home Rehabilitation of Patients With Stroke. A Randomised Controlled Intervention Trial.

Objective: To evaluate the effect of interdisciplinary home rehabilitation of patients with acute stroke. The trial seeks to evaluate: 1. Can early home rehabilitation affect the degree of independence (motor capacity, activities of daily living and cognitive status), quality of life and the possibility of discharge to own home? 2. Can home rehabilitation influence the length of admission at a rehabilitation centre in the municipality, readmission to hospital, the use of healthcare services and death? 3. To what extend can home rehabilitation be implemented according to finances? Materials and methods: Patients at the age 18 years or more admitted to the stroke unit at the University Hospital of Gentofte. The patients were eligible when meeting the following criteria: symptoms of stroke, need of rehabilitation tree days after admission, living in own home in the Municipality of Gentofte, Lyngby-Taarbaek or Rudersdal and Modified Rankin Score between 0 and 3. The trial was conducted as a randomised controlled trial. The control group patients were rehabilitated according to normal procedure. The intervention group patients were rehabilitated according to normal procedure and were additionally rehabilitated at home during admission and four weeks after discharge.