Abstract
BACKGROUND: After discharge from in-hospital rehabilitation, post-stroke patients should have the opportunity to continue the rehabilitation through structured programs to maintain the benefits acquired during intensive rehabilitation treatment.
OBJECTIVE: The primary objective was to evaluate the feasibility of implementing an home-based telesurveillance and rehabilitation (HBTR) program to optimize the patient's recovery by reducing dependency degree.
METHOD: Post-stroke patients were consecutively screened. Data were expressed as mean ± standard deviation (SD). 26 patients enrolled: 15 were sub-acute (time since stroke: 112 ± 39 days) and 11 were chronic (time since stroke: 470 ± 145 days). For 3 months patients were followed at home by a nurse-tutor, who provided structured phone support and vital signs telemonitoring, and by a physiotherapist (PT) who monitored rehabilitation sessions by videoconferencing.
RESULTS: 23 patients completed the program; 16.7 ± 5.2 phone contacts/patient were initiated by the nurse and 0.9 ± 1.8 by the patients. Eight episodes of atrial fibrillation that required a change in therapy were recorded in two patients. Physiotherapists performed 1.2 ± 0.4 home visits, 1.6 ± 0.9 phone calls and 4.5 ± 2.8 videoconference-sessions per patient. At least three sessions/week of home exercises were performed by 31% of patients, two sessions by 54%. At the end of the program, global functional capacity improved significantly (P
CONCLUSION: The home-based program was feasible and effective in both sub-acute and chronic post-stroke patients, improving their recovery, and maintaining the benefits reached during inpatient rehabilitation.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 106-115 |
Number of pages | 10 |
Journal | Topics in Stroke Rehabilitation |
Volume | 23 |
Issue number | 2 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Apr 1 2016 |
Keywords
- Physical and rehabilitation medicine
- Stroke
- Telehealth
- Telemedicine
- Telenursing
- Video-conferencing
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Medicine(all)