Research Highlights
No Racial Differences Found in Proportion of VA Stroke Patients Referred to Rehabilitation or in the Intensity of Rehabilitation
Taken from the Veterans Health Administration Highlights dated March 24, 2003
VA researchers examined racial differences in the time taken to initiate stroke rehabilitation services within nine VA medical centers and found there were no racial differences in either the proportion of stroke patients who were referred to inpatient rehabilitation or in the intensity of rehabilitation.
Investigators used information from the VA Acute Stroke (VAST) Study that included 1,073 patients within the Veterans Health Administration between April 1995 and March 1997.
On average, patients took three days to begin rehabilitation, regardless of race.
However, black patients recovered physical function during the first year post-stroke at a significantly slower rate than whites. Among patients who experienced delay in initiation of rehabilitation, only low-income blacks experienced worse functional recovery over 12 months.
Investigators hypothesized that differences in recovery could be related to aspects of poverty other than the ability to pay for treatment, such as lack of transportation or limited access to additional in-home rehabilitation services.
The article, titled, The Effects of Race and Poverty on the Process and Outcome of Inpatient Rehabilitation Services Among Stroke Patient," will be published in Stroke, April 2003.