Clinical utility of the AlphaFIM® instrument in stroke rehabilitation.

BackgroundThe AlphaFIM instrument is an assessment tool designed to facilitate discharge planning of stroke patients from acute care, by extrapolating overall functional status from performance in six key Functional Independence Measure (FIM) instrument items.AimTo determine whether acute care AlphaFIM rating is correlated to stroke rehabilitation outcomes.MethodsIn this prospective observational study, data were analyzed from 891 patients referred for inpatient stroke rehabilitation through an Internet-based referral system. Simple linear and stepwise regression models determined correlations between rehabilitation-ready AlphaFIM rating and rehabilitation outcomes (admission and discharge FIM ratings, FIM gain, FIM efficiency, and length of stay). Covariates including demographic data, stroke characteristics, medical history, cognitive deficits, and activity tolerance were included in the stepwise regressions.ResultsThe AlphaFIM instrument was significant in predicting admission and discharge FIM ratings...