Objective: To examine the factors which influence the length of hospitalization of stroke patients.
Design: Analysis of the relative importance of 10 preselected variables on the length of hospital stay of all patients admitted with a clinical diagnosis of stroke. The data were collected prospectively.
Setting: Two teaching hospitals serving the city of Southampton and southwest Hampshire, England (approximate population 450 000).
Subjects: Forty-six consecutive stroke patients.
Results: Data were complete on 38 patients. The mean and (median) length of hospital stay was 74.9 (80.5) days for men and 74.7 (73.5) for women. The mean age of women in the study sample was higher than that of men (73.2 vs 71.6). Patients who were less than 70 years of age stayed shorter periods in hospital than older subjects. Other factors associated with shorter hospitalization were a stroke type other than total anterior circulation infarct, a Barthel score of 12 or more on admission or at the time of discharge and a frequency of consultants' ward rounds of more than one per week. A delay in the provision of equipment and home adaptations and waiting for placement in a private nursing home were the best predictors of long hospital stays of stroke patients.
Conclusions: Early liaison of rehabilitation staff with Social Services in order to secure the quick provision of environmental aids and adaptations or placement in residential care of stroke patients with a poor prognosis for functional recovery would probably reduce the unnecessary hospitalization of these patients.
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