The Relationship between Hemiplegic Upper Extremity Function and Activities of Daily Living According to Age in Stroke Patients

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Age is one of the many factors that can influence functional improvement and activities of daily living (ADL) after a stroke. We looked at the effects of functional improvement of hemiplegic upper extremity (HUE) on ADL according to age in stroke patients. METHODS: We recruited 46 stroke patients beginning acute or subacute rehabilitation. They were classified into two groups according to age, the elderly group (> or =65 years, n=18) and the young group (0.05). There were no significant differences in the changes to Pedretti clinical test, MFT, and FIM between the two groups before and after rehabilitation (p>0.05). In the young group, the motor improvement of HUE correlated significantly with FIM (p0.05). CONCLUSION: In our study, elderly stroke patients showed improvement in function and ADL similar to young stroke patients. This potential should be maximized and elderly stroke patients should receive active rehabilitation.