The influence of stroke type, gender, and age on FIM improvement

Tokunaga M, Watanabe S, Nakanishi R, Yamanaga H, Yonemitsu H, Mita S, Terasaki T, Hirata Y, Yamaga M, Hashimoto Y. The influence of stroke type, gender, and age on FIM improvement. Jpn J Compr Rehabil Sci 2014; 5: 136-140. Objective: The aim of this study was to elucidate the influence of stroke type, gender, and age on a corrected Functional Independence Measure (FIM) effectiveness score, an FIM improvement indicator corrected for FIM at the time of admission. Methods: The subjects comprised 3,034 stroke patients enrolled in a stroke liaison clinical pathway. The subjects were divided into four groups based on stroke type (infarction or hemorrhage) and sex (male or female), and were stratified into nine different fiveyear age groups. We then investigated the mean corrected FIM effectiveness score. Results: Mean corrected FIM effectiveness decreased in all four groups among subjects aged 70 years or older. Among subjects aged 69 or younger, cerebral hemorrhage was significantly greater than cerebral infarction, but no clear statistical difference was seen for gender. Conclusion: During an investigation of FIM improvement in stroke patients, there is no great need to divide subjects by gender, but the patients should be stratified by stroke type and age.