Every person is an individual: physical therapist clinical reasoning used in inpatient rehabilitation for walking assistive device prescription in patients with stroke and brain injury.

Purpose: A complete description of the process of physical therapy clinical reasoning for walking assistive devices in patients with stroke and brain injury has never been undertaken. Describing the clinical reasoning process used in post-acute inpatient rehabilitation is important to shed light on the clinical activities and factors used in practice, prevent device abandonment, and, inform entry-level clinical training. The two purposes were first, to describe the clinical reasoning process used during inpatient rehabilitation for walking assistive devices in patients with stroke and brain injury, and second, to determine whether clinical reasoning differed by two facility types and by diagnosis.