Health indicators of older adults in a stroke unit in Brazil and their role in explaining disability, functional dependence, and residual motor impairments at hospital discharge

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to investigate health indicators in individuals with stroke in Brazil and to analyze those indicators that could explain disability, functional dependence, and residual motor impairments at hospital discharge. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The following nine health indicators were used: education (years of schooling), unemployment, diabetes status, smoking status, body mass index, alcohol consumption, physical activity, blood pressure, and length of hospital stay. The degree of disability was measured by the modified Rankin scale (mRS), functional independence was measured by the Functional Independence Measure (FIM), and residual motor impairments were measured by the Fugl-Meyer Assessment (FMA) scale. RESULTS: Of the 350 individuals, 57 % were illiterate or had up to three years of schooling, 13 % were unemployed, 26 % had diabetes, 34 % were regular smokers, 4 % were overweight, 23 % were excessive alcohol consumers, 79 % had insufficient levels of physical activity, 64 % had high blood pressure, and 41 % stayed at the hospital for more than one week. Ordinal logistic regression analyses revealed that individuals who stayed at the hospital for a longer time and had insufficient physical activity and lower education levels were more likely to be dependent and have higher degrees of disability. Those with lower education levels and longer hospital stays were more likely to have major residual motor impairments. CONCLUSION: Most individuals who experienced stroke had insufficient levels of physical activity. Insufficient physical activity, education, and length of hospital stay explained disability and functional dependence, whereas education levels and length of hospital explained residual motor impairments at hospital discharge.