Evaluation of Physical Therapy Interventions and Patient Characteristics on Outcomes

All persons admitted to the inpatient rehabilitation unit will be screened for inclusion.
Only those with a confirmed diagnosis of stroke (CVA) will be included. Data collection on
the participants will begin at the time of admission and continue through discharge. Average
length of stay for persons with stroke in inpatient rehabilitation units is 21 days. Some
persons will stay fewer days and some will stay longer. Data collection will include key
information on physical therapy interventions including gait training, balance training,
group therapy, manual therapy, exercise, transfer training, stairs, family training,
wheelchair training, modalities, discharge planning, seated and supine exercises. Other data
will be collected including tone, motor control, sensation, gait endurance, falls, wounds,
restraints, deep vein thrombosis, tracheostomy, feeding tubes and blood pressure. Additional
data collection will include age, gender, race, length of time post stroke, time in
rehabilitation, Functional Independence Measure scores, case mix group, discharge
destination. In addition, physician history and physical as well as discharge summary will
be collected, as will evaluation and discharge notes from therapies (physical, occupation,
speech, social work). Patients will not be responsible for any costs associated with this
data collection.

Inclusion Criteria:

- Any patient with a confirmed primary diagnosis of stroke, within 6 weeks of onset,
will be included.

- Persons will be between the ages of 16 and 80.

- Persons may have experienced a previous CVA if they experienced a full gait recovery.

Exclusion Criteria:

- Any patient with a history of stroke onset greater than 6 weeks prior to admission
will not be included.

- In addition, persons with bilateral CVA will not be included as well as persons who
were not ambulatory prior to the CVA.