This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Green, J. Articles by Wade, D. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Green, J. Articles by Wade, D. Social Bookmarking                   What's this?

Combined analysis of two randomized trials of community physiotherapy for patients more than one year post stroke

John Young

Anne Forster

Department of Health Care for the Elderly, St Luke's Hospital, Bradford, UK

Fiona Collen

Department of Physiotherapy, Queen Margaret University College, Edinburgh, UK

Derick Wade

Oxford Centre for Enablement, Oxford, UK

Background: Some patients continue to have mobility problems as a long-term consequence of stroke and it is unclear whether routine, further contact with a physiotherapy service is beneficial. Two single-centre, randomized controlled trials of physiotherapy for patients more than one year post stroke have been undertaken in Oxford and Bradford in the UK and the results from these two trials have been combined to give a more precise estimate of effectiveness.

Method: The computerized databases from both trials were combined for a joint analysis. Outcome measures common to both trials were: Rivermead Mobility Index; gait speed measured over 10 metres; Barthel Index; Frenchay Activities Index; Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale.

Results: There were 264 patients available for the combined analysis (Oxford= 94; Bradford= 170). There was a significant but clinically small improvement in mobility at three months in the combined treatment group measured by the Rivermead Mobility Index (median of the differences= 0 (95% confidence interval (CI) 0, 1); interpolated values= 0.43 (95% CI 0.08, 0.80)) and gait speed (treatment effect 2.7 m/min (95% CI 0.94, 4.46)). There were no other significant differences. Intervention given in both studies was at the discretion of the physiotherapists and was of similar and low intensity (mean visits Oxford= 4 (SD 2.5); Bradford= 5 (SD 4.5)).

Conclusion: A more effective physiotherapy intervention is required for stroke patients with persisting mobility problems after stroke.

Clinical Rehabilitation, Vol. 18, No. 3, 249-252 (2004)
DOI: 10.1191/0269215504cr747oa


CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				R. Dickstein Rehabilitation of Gait Speed After Stroke: A Critical Review of Intervention Approaches Neurorehabil Neural Repair, November 1, 2008; 22(6): 649 - 660. [Abstract] [PDF]