Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2008 Jul 15;59(7):984-8.
doi: 10.1002/art.23816.

Functional outcome after stroke in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus

Tracy U Nguyen-Oghalai  1 , Helen Wu, Terry A McNearney, Carl V Granger, Kenneth J Ottenbacher
Affiliations

Functional outcome after stroke in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus

Tracy U Nguyen-Oghalai et al. Arthritis Rheum. .

Abstract

Objective: To compare outcomes following stroke rehabilitation among patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) or systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) versus patients with neither RA nor SLE (non-RA/SLE).

Methods: We conducted a retrospective analysis using a national database of patients with stroke admitted to inpatient rehabilitation between 1994 and 2001. Primary outcomes were discharge disposition and functional status, rated by the Functional Independence Measure (FIM) Instrument, at discharge and at followup. The independent variable was RA or SLE. Covariates were age, sex, race/ethnicity, admission FIM ratings, additional comorbidities (none, 1-3, and >3), type of stroke, and length of stay.

Results: We studied 47,853 patients with stroke, 368 with RA, and 119 with SLE. Discharge dispositions were similar for patients with RA and non-RA/SLE (81% discharged home). At discharge, the average FIM rating for patients with RA was 85.8, compared with 87.8 for non-RA/SLE patients. At followup, the average FIM rating for patients with RA was 95.9, compared with 99.6 for non-RA/SLE patients. RA was associated with lower FIM ratings at discharge and followup in multivariate analyses. SLE was associated with younger age (17.5 years). However, patients with SLE had similar discharge dispositions and FIM ratings to non-RA/SLE patients.

Conclusion: RA was associated with lower functional status ratings at discharge and followup. Outpatient therapy for patients with RA may reduce long-term assistance. Patients with SLE were younger, but had similar functional outcomes to patients without RA/SLE, suggesting early morbidity from stroke among patients with SLE.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Graph of average FIM Instrument rating versus age group.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. American Heart Association. Heart disease and stroke statistics: 2006 update. Dallas (TX): AHA/American Stroke Association; 2006.
    1. Langhorne P, Legg L. Evidence behind stroke rehabilitation. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 2003;74 Suppl 4:iv18–iv21. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Nguyen-Oghalai TU, Ottenbacher KJ, Granger CV, Goodwin JS. Impact of osteoarthritis on the rehabilitation of patients following a stroke. Arthritis Rheum. 2005;53:383–387. - PubMed
    1. Fried LP, Bandeen-Roche K, Kasper JD, Guralnik JM. Association of comorbidity with disability in older women: the Women’s Health and Aging Study. J Clin Epidemiol. 1999;52:27–37. - PubMed
    1. Uniform Data System for Medical Rehabilitation. The guide for the uniform data set for medical rehabilitation (including the FIM instrument), version 5.1. Buffalo (NY): UDSMR; 1997.

Publication types