Depression Characterization and Race Among Stroke Survivors Receiving Inpatient Rehabilitation.

Race and ethnicity play a significant role in poststroke outcomes. This brief report describes the presence of depression among stroke survivors who received inpatient rehabilitation and whether depression differs by race. Data from eRehabData and electronic medical records were analyzed for patients who received rehabilitation after an acute ischemic or hemorrhagic stroke.

Measuring comorbidity in cardiovascular research: a systematic review.

Background. Everything known about the roles, relationships, and repercussions of comorbidity in cardiovascular disease is shaped by how comorbidity is currently measured. Objectives.

Assessing stroke patients for rehabilitation during the acute hospitalization: findings from the get with the guidelines-stroke program.

Objective: To examine the frequency and determinants of an assessment for rehabilitation during the hospitalization for acute stroke.

Design: Prospective cohort of patients admitted with acute stroke in the Get With The Guidelines-Stroke (GWTG-Stroke) program from January 8, 2008, to March 31, 2011.

Setting: Acute hospitals (n=1532) in the United States participating in the GWTG-Stroke program.

Geographic access to and availability of community resources for persons diagnosed with severe mental illness in Philadelphia, USA.

This study assesses whether there are differences in geographic access to and availability of a range of different amenities for a large group of persons diagnosed with severe mental illness (SMI) in Philadelphia (USA) when compared to a more general set of residential addresses. The 15,246 persons who comprised the study group had better outcomes than an equal number of geographical points representative of the general Philadelphia population on measures of geographic proximity and availability for resources considered important by people diagnosed with SMI. These findings provide support for the presence of geographic prerequisites for attaining meaningful levels of community integration.

Survival analysis in amputees based on physical independence grade achievement.

Background: Survival implications of achieving different grades of physical independence after lower extremity amputation are unknown.

Objectives: To identify thresholds of physical independence achievement associated with improved 6-month survival and to identify and compare other risk factors after removing the influence of the grade achieved.

Design: Data were combined from 8 administrative databases.

Possible incremental benefits of specialized rehabilitation bed units among veterans after lower extremity amputation.

Background: Little is known about the effect of different types of inpatient rehabilitation on outcomes of patients undergoing lower extremity amputation for nontraumatic reasons.

Objective: To compare outcomes between patients who received inpatient rehabilitation on specific rehabilitation bed units (specialized) to patients who received rehabilitation on general medical/surgical units (generalized) during the acute postoperative period.

Methods: This was an observational study including 1339 veterans who underwent lower extremity amputation between October 1, 2002 and September 30, 2004.

Short- and long-term prognosis among veterans with neurological disorders and subsequent lower-extremity amputation.

Background: Although comorbid neurological conditions are not uncommon for individuals undergoing lower-extremity (LE) amputation, short- and long-term prognosis is unclear.

Methods: This cohort study on the survival of United States veterans with LE amputations examined the association between different preexisting neurological conditions and short- and long-term (in-hospital and within 1-year of surgical amputation) mortality. Chi(2) and t test statistics compared baseline characteristics for patients with and without neurological disorders.

The effectiveness of inpatient rehabilitation in the acute postoperative phase of care after transtibial or transfemoral amputation: study of an integrated health care delivery system.

Objective: To compare outcomes between lower-extremity amputees who receive and do not receive acute postoperative inpatient rehabilitation within a large integrated health care delivery system.

Design: An observational study using multivariable propensity score risk adjustment to reduce treatment selection bias.

Setting: Data compiled from 9 administrative databases from Veterans Affairs Medical Centers.

Analyzing change in recovery patterns in the year after acute hospitalization.

Objective: To examine trajectories of recovery and change in patterns of personal care and instrumental functional activity performance to determine whether different assessment interval designs within a 12-month period yield different estimates of improvement and decline after acute hospitalization and inpatient rehabilitation.

Design: Secondary analysis of a 12-month prospective cohort study.

Setting: Transition to the community.

Effectiveness of multidisciplinary rehabilitation services in postacute care: state-of-the-science. A review.

Objectives: To summarize the efficacy of postacute rehabilitation and to outline future research strategies for increasing knowledge of its effectiveness.

Data Sources: English-language systematic reviews that examined multidisciplinary therapy-based rehabilitation services for adults, published in the last 25 years and available through Cochrane, Medline, or CINAHL databases. We excluded multidisciplinary biopsychosocial rehabilitation programs and mental health services.