The Effect of Increased Training Time for Patients with Feeding Tubes in a Kaifukuki Rehabilitation Ward / The Japanese Journal of Rehabilitation Medicine

ABSTRACT

After April 2006, the Japanese Ministry of Health and Labor raised the permitted training time from 6 to 9 units (1 unit of training time corresponds to 20 minutes of exercise with a therapist) for patients in a kaifukuki (convalescent) rehabilitation ward. We examined the effect of the increased rehabilitative training time on patients using feeding tubes in a kaifukuki rehabilitation ward after an initial cerebrovascular disorder, with a particular focus on improving swallowing disorders. Our study was comprised of post-stroke patients with feeding tubes who underwent rehabilitation from April 2001 to March 2006 (<i>N</i>=14, 6-unit group) and from April 2006 to March 2009 (<i>N</i>=16, 9-unit group). All patients went to the ward within two months after suffering a stroke. There was no significant difference in the Functional Independence Measure(FIM) efficiency or length of hospital stay between the two groups. Feeding tube removal was more common in the 9-unit group compared to the 6-unit group (81.3% vs. 35.7%, <i>p</i><0.05), and the 9-unit group also had more training time per day. Logistic regression analysis showed that the increased training time per day spent with a speech therapist contributed to improving swallowing disorders (<i>p</i><0.01).