Abstract
This study aimed to follow up a preliminary study and collect further information about the profiles of recovery from physical disabilities of people who had suffered a stroke. Prospective monitoring of 348 patients with stroke referred to physiotherapy in health districts throughout the UK was undertaken for a six-week period and a distinct time-related pattern of recovery from disability was again found. Significant differences related to age were identified, but were not found in relation either to side of stroke or sex. These profiles of recovery, together with earlier work monitoring recovery in 368 patients with stroke, provide important information not previously available about indices of recovery directly related to phsyiotherapy. A database on over 700 patients is now available, and can be used to monitor any changes which occur as a result of interventions by therapists. It is also suggested that the development of recovery curves may be a useful way of monitoring quality of care in the physiotherapy treatment and management of a number of conditions involving physical disability.
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