Long-term effects of community-based rehabilitation on upper extremity function and activities of daily living in stroke patients

Objective:To explore long-term effects of community-based rehabilitation(CBR) on upper extremity function and activities of daily living(ADL) in stroke patients.Method:Eighty stroke patients were randomly di-vided into control group(n=40) and rehabilitation group(n=40).The patients in rehabilitation group were treated with CBR and regular following-up,functional assessment,while the patients in control group only treated with fol-lowing-up and functional assessment,no rehabilitation treatment.The Barthel Index(BI) and Clinical Neural Impair-ment Measures Scale(NIM) were applied to assess patients at the beginning of enrollment,and the end of the 5th and 17th month.Result:At the beginning of enrollment,the difference in scores of NIM and ADL between two groups was not obvious(P0.05).There were significant differences in scores between two groups 5 and 17 months later(P0.05).In rehabilitation group there was a better outcome than that in control group.In control group there was no significant difference in scores from the 5th month to the 17th month(P0.05).Conclusion:Community-based rehabilitation can provide long-term effects on upper extremity function and ADL in stroke patients.The ear-lier the CBR received,the better the improvement on upper extremity function and ADL acquired.