Inpatient rehabilitation following stroke:
Within a retrospective study, it was found that early physical, occupational, and speech therapy post-stroke treatment resulted in significant improvement of both the Barthel Index (a reliable scoring system used to measure functional independence during activities of daily living) and the Functional Independence Measure (a score placed on the degree of independence noted before and after rehab). The study found that inpatient rehab stays over 1 month did not seem to add additional functional independence after the first month. Also, older patients were noted to have a lower functional independence both before and after rehab compared to younger patients. (95)