Sampling techniques.
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to A Winsor.
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BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: We wished to examine the effectiveness of an early hospital discharge and home-based rehabilitation scheme for patients with acute stroke. METHODS: This was a randomized, controlled trial comparing early hospital discharge and home-based rehabilitation with usual inpatient rehabilitation and follow-up care. The trial was carried out in 2 affiliated teaching hospitals in Adelaide, South Australia. Participants were 86 patients with acute stroke (mean age, 75 years) who were admitted to hospital and required rehabilitation. Forty-two patients received early hospital discharge and home-based rehabilitation (median duration, 5 weeks), and 44 patients continued with conventional rehabilitation care after randomization. The primary end point was self-reported general health status (SF-36) at 6 months after randomization. A variety of secondary outcome measures were also assessed. RESULTS: Overall, clinical outcomes for patients did not differ significantly between the groups at 6 months after randomization, but the total duration of hospital stay in the experimental group was significantly reduced (15 versus 30 days; P<0.001). Caregivers among the home-based rehabilitation group had significantly lower mental health SF-36 scores (mean difference, 7 points). CONCLUSIONS: A policy of early hospital discharge and home-based rehabilitation for patients with stroke can reduce the use of hospital rehabilitation beds without compromising clinical patient outcomes. However, there is a potential risk of poorer mental health on the part of caregivers. The choice of this management strategy may therefore depend on convenience and costs but also on further evaluations of the impact of stroke on caregivers.
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The goal of the present study was to examine the resource and economic implications of an early hospital discharge and home-based rehabilitation scheme for patients with acute stroke. METHODS: A cost minimization analysis in conjunction with a randomized controlled trial was carried out at 2 affiliated teaching hospitals in the southern metropolitan region of Adelaide, South Australia, between 1997 and 1998. Eighty-six hospitalized patients with acute stroke who required rehabilitation were randomized to receive both early hospital discharge and home-based rehabilitation, or conventional in-hospital rehabilitation and community care. Direct and indirect costs related to stroke rehabilitation were calculated, including hospital bed days, home-based intervention program, community services, and personal expenses during the 6 months after randomization. RESULTS: The mean cost per patient was lower for patients randomized to the early hospital discharge and home-based rehabilitation ($8040) compared with those who received conventional care ($10 054). This cost saving was not statistically significant (P=0.14). However, sensitivity analyses indicated that the cost of home-based rehabilitation was consistently lower than that of conventional care except when hospital costs were assumed to be 50% less than those used in the main analysis. Multiple regression analysis demonstrated that the cost of the home-based program was significantly related to a patient's level of disability after adjustment for age, comorbidity, and the presence or absence of a caregiver. CONCLUSIONS: The early hospital discharge and home-based rehabilitation scheme was less costly than conventional hospital care for patients with stroke. Limitation of the provision of such services to patients with mild disability is likely to be most cost effective.
During the 6-year period up to 1 January 1988, 10 patients were admitted to our unit from Central Australia with spinal cord injuries resulting from motor vehicle accidents. Of these half had received their injury whilst resting unrestrained in the rear of a moving vehicle. Three of these were recumbent. The case is presented of a 26-year-old male who was injured whilst resting in the rear of a moving vehicle that left the roadway and rolled in remote central Australia. The injuries sustained were a closed head injury, fractures of the left lateral masses of C5, C6 and C7, a burst fracture of C7 with an asymmetrical complete tetraplegia: C5 on the left, C6 on the right. Initial orthopaedic management was skeletal traction. An inpatient rehabilitation programme has been completed.