The change of Barthel Index scores from the time of discharge until 3-month post-discharge among acute stroke patients in Malaysia: A random intercept model

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 13; no. 12; p. e0208594
• Main Authors: Musa, Kamarul Imran, Keegan, Thomas J
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 20.12.2018; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Activities of Daily Living; Adjustment; Adult; Age; Age Factors; Aged; Biology and Life Sciences; Care and treatment; Diabetes; Discharge; Female; Hemorrhage; Hospitals; Humans; Interviews as Topic; Linear Models; Malaysia; Male; Medical prognosis; Medicine and Health Sciences; Methods; Middle Aged; Neurology; Neurosurgery; Outcome and process assessment (Medical care); Patient Discharge; Patient outcomes; Patients; People and Places; Prognosis; Regression models; Rehabilitation; Retrospective Studies; Severity of Illness Index; Sex Factors; Stroke; Stroke - pathology; Stroke patients; Stroke Rehabilitation; Studies; Time measurement; Malaysia
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0208594

Acute stroke results in functional disability measurable using the well-known Barthel Index. The objectives of the study are to describe the change in the Barthel Index score and to model the prognostic factors for Barthel Index change from discharge up to 3 months post-discharge using the random intercept model among patients with acute first ever stroke in Kelantan, Malaysia. A total 98 in-hospital first ever acute stroke patients were recruited, and their Barthel Index scores were measured at the time of discharge, at 1 month and 3 months post-discharge. The Barthel Index was scored through telephone interviews. We employed the random intercept model from linear mixed effect regression to model the change of Barthel Index scores during the three months intervals. The prognostic factors included in the model were acute stroke subtypes, age, sex and time of measurement (at discharge, at 1 month and at 3 month post-discharge). The crude mean Barthel Index scores showed an increased trend. The crude mean Barthel Index at the time of discharge, at 1-month post-discharge and 3 months post-discharge were 35.1 (SD = 39.4), 64.4 (SD = 39.5) and 68.8 (SD = 38.9) respectively. Over the same period, the adjusted mean Barthel Index scores estimated from the linear mixed effect model increased from 39.6 to 66.9 to 73.2. The adjusted mean Barthel Index scores decreased as the age increased, and haemorrhagic stroke patients had lower adjusted mean Barthel Index scores compared to the ischaemic stroke patients. Overall, the crude and adjusted mean Barthel Index scores increase from the time of discharge up to 3-month post-discharge among acute stroke patients. Time after discharge, age and stroke subtypes are the significant prognostic factors for Barthel Index score changes over the period of 3 months.