Prospects for restoring daily activities in patients after stroke

Objective. To assess the likelihood of restoring daily activity skills in patients after stroke. Materials and methods. The study included 42 patients in the early and late recovery periods after stroke in the middle cerebral artery basin. Upon admission to the neurorehabilitation department of the Federal Scientific Clinical Center of the FMBA of Russia in Krasnoyarsk, an occupational therapy goal was set, and then its achievement was assessed 10 days after the start of neurorehabilitation (without occupational therapy sessions) and 1 month after discharge from the hospital in the form of a telephone survey. The following scales were assessed: National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS); Berg Balance Scale; Modified Ashworth Scale (MAS); Rehabilitation Routing Scale (RRS). Results. During the study, we obtained the following results: after 10 days of recovery, only 7% (n=3) achieved restoration of daily living skills (initial occupational therapy goal), and after 1 month post-discharge, 26% (n=11, 10 of whom were in the early recovery period of stroke and 1 with stroke sequelae) achieved it. There was a statistically significant increase in the Berg Scale score (p < 0.001) and a decrease in the NIHSS (p < 0.001), MAS (p < 0.001), and RRS (p < 0.001) scores, as well as a decrease in the severity of paresis both in the arm (p = 0.019) and in the leg (p = 0.003). Conclusion. The study proved the low probability of returning to previous daily activities and restoring daily living skills in stroke patients during neurorehabilitation without the involvement of an occupational therapist.