Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40762230›Full record

ArticleJournal of rehabilitation medicine2025

Delayed inpatient rehabilitation and functional outcomes for acute stroke: a retrospective cohort study in an Australian regional hospital.

Fan He, Irene Blackberry, Michael Njovu, David Rutherford, George Mnatzaganian

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of rehabilitation medicine, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Article
  3. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Fan HeJohn Richards Centre for Rural Ageing Research, La Trobe Rural Health School, La Trobe University, Victoria, Australia; Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; Care Economy Research Institute, La Trobe University, Albury-Wodonga, Victoria, Australia. f.he@latrobe.edu.au.ORCID 0000-0001-5696-0631
Irene BlackberryJohn Richards Centre for Rural Ageing Research, La Trobe Rural Health School, La Trobe University, Victoria, Australia; Care Economy Research Institute, La Trobe University, Albury-Wodonga, Victoria, Australia.ORCID 0000-0003-4482-4936
Michael NjovuRehabilitation Medicine Department, Albury Wodonga Health, Wodonga, Victoria, Australia; School of Clinical Medicine, University of New South Wales, Albury Campus, Albury, Australia.ORCID 0009-0006-7060-635X
David RutherfordDivision of Medicine, Albury Wodonga Health, Albury, New South Wales, Australia.ORCID 0009-0006-6569-4797
George MnatzaganianRural Department of Community Health, La Trobe Rural Health School, College of Science, Health and Engineering, La Trobe University, Victoria, Australia.ORCID 0000-0002-7698-5091

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThe impact of delayed inpatient rehabilitation on the functional outcomes of stroke patients has not been reported in regional Australia.

objectiveThis study examined the impact of delayed inpatient rehabilitation following acute stroke on functional outcomes (Relative Functional Gain and Functional Independence Measure efficiency) and length of stay in rehabilitation at a regional Australian hospital.

methodsRehabilitation initiated > 24 h after a patient was deemed clinically ready was considered delayed. Associations between delayed inpatient rehabilitation and functional outcomes were investigated with mixed effects linear regression while length of stay was modelled using a negative binomial regression.

resultsOf a total 487 patients, 301 (61.8%) experienced delayed inpatient rehabilitation, with a median delay of 2 days (interquartile range: 1-4 days). Multivariate regressions showed delayed inpatient rehabilitation was negatively associated with Relative Functional Gain (Beta: -0.07, 95% confidence interval [CI]: -0.11, -0.02, p = 0.009) and Functional Independence Measure efficiency (Beta: -0.18, 95% CI: -0.32, -0.04, p = 0.014), but positively associated with length of stay in rehabilitation wards (incidence rate ratio: 1.11, 95% CI: 1.02, 1.21, p = 0.021). Bed unavailability was the leading cause of delay.

conclusionDelayed inpatient rehabilitation is associated with poorer functional outcomes in stroke patients. Timely access to rehabilitation is crucial for optimising recovery.

Indexed as

Stroke RehabilitationTime-to-TreatmentAgedAged, 80 and overAustraliaFemaleHumansInpatientsLength of StayMaleMiddle AgedRecovery of FunctionRetrospective StudiesStrokeTime FactorsTreatment Outcome

Identifiers

PMID40762230
PMCPMC12340994

What Socratic holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.