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Of 124 patients recruited,108 were available for reassessment at six months.Both treatment groups had significantly improved in functional abilities between discharge and six months.The improvements were significantly greater for patients treated at home(Mann-Whitney test; Barthel index,medial difference 2(95%confidence interval 0 to 3)p=0.01; Motor Club assessment,median difference 2(1 to 5),p=0.01).The home treated patients received less treatment(median difference 16(11 to 21)treatments, p<0.001).More than a third of patients in both groups showed depressed mood,and a quarter of care givers were emotionally distressed.Conclusions- Home physiotherapy seems to be slightly more effective and more resource efficient than day hospital attendance and should be the preferred rehabilitation method for aftercare of stroke patients.New strategies are needed to address psychosocial function for both patients and care givers. |
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