Abstract
Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of the severity of the disorder and malnutrition on the number of days for patients who had a stroke to regain independent ambulation, by using a covariance structure analysis.
Methods: The subjects were 116 patients aged >65 years who had a stroke and hospitalized in convalescent rehabilitation wards. The latent variables related to the number of days for regaining independent ambulation consisted of the severity of the disorder and malnutrition in stroke. Based on a path-coefficient analysis and statistically significant differences, we created a hypothetical model connected with the number of days for regaining independent ambulation. The corrected and improved model was used in the covariance structure analysis.
Results: The number of days for regaining independent ambulation was related to the severity of the disorder, but its relationship with malnutrition was not strong in the <75-year age group. It was related to both the severity of the disorder and malnutrition in the >75-year age group. The factor related to malnutrition was dysphagia.
Conclusion: The present study revealed that malnutrition especially effected the number of days for regaining independent ambulation in very elderly people with dysphagia.
