2012 Volume 34 Issue 6 Pages 383-390
Background and Purpose: We examined the impact of increased exercise made possible by the revision of medical fees on improved ADL by age.Method: This study was conducted among stroke patients who had been admitted to and discharged from the convalescent rehabilitation ward at our institution. Of these, 106 subjects had received 5-6 units of exercise (6-unit group) at the time when the upper limit on daily exercise units was six (2 h) and 130 subjects had received 7-9 units of exercise (9-unit group) at the time when the upper limit on daily exercise units was nine. We compared results for Functional Independence Measure motor scale (FIM-M) gain and FIM-M efficiency at the time of admission and at discharge. Analysis was also performed by stratifying subjects into three groups by age and into two groups by FIM-M score on admission. Results: FIM-M gain and FIM-M efficiency were significantly higher in the 9-unit group than in the 6-unit group. In the lower FIM-M score group, FIM-M gain and FIM-M efficiency among patients ≥70 years old and 60-69 years old were significantly higher in the 9-unit group than in the 6-unit group. In the higher FIM-M score group, FIM-M gain among patients ≥70 years old was significantly higher in the 9-unit group than in the 6-unit group.Conclusions: Increased exercise volume was associated with greater improvements in ADL, and the degree of improvement was particularly marked among patients in their 60 s with lower FIM-M scores and among patients ≥70 years old.
