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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 26(1)

Efficiency of telerehabilitation on subacute stroke ambulation: a matched case-control study

Alejandro García-Rudolph https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0853-8334 A B C * , Mark Andrew Wright A B C , Claudia Teixidó A B C , Eloy Opisso A B C , Gunnar Cedersund D E F and Josep Medina A B C
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Department of Research and Innovation, Institut Guttmann – Hospital de Neurorehabilitació, Institut Universitari de Neurorehabilitació adscrit a la UAB, Cami Can Ruti s/n, 08916, Badalona, Barcelona, Spain.

B Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra (Cerdanyola del Vallès), Spain.

C Fundació Institut d’Investigació en Ciències de la Salut Germans Trias i Pujol, Badalona, Barcelona, Spain.

D Department of Biomedical Engineering, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden.

E Center for Medical Image Science and Visualization (CMIV), Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden.

F School of Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health, Örebro University, Örebro, Sweden.

* Correspondence to: alejandropablogarcia@gmail.com

Handling Editor: Suzanne Kuys

Brain Impairment 26, IB24032 https://doi.org/10.1071/IB24032
Submitted: 17 April 2024  Accepted: 29 November 2024  Published: 3 January 2025

© 2025 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing on behalf of the Australasian Society for the Study of Brain Impairment.

Abstract

Background

Stroke now represents the condition with the highest need for physical rehabilitation worldwide, with only low or moderate-level evidence testing telerehabilitation compared to in-person care. We compared functional ambulation in subacute patients with stroke following telerehabilitation and matched in-person controls with no biopsychosocial differences at baseline.

Methods

We conducted a matched case-control study to compare functional ambulation between individuals with stroke following telerehabilitation and in-person rehabilitation, assessed using the Functional Ambulation Categories (FAC) and the Functional Independence Measure™ (FIM).

Results

The telerehabilitation group (n = 38) achieved significantly higher FAC gains (1.5 (1.3) vs 1.0 (1.0)) than the in-person rehabilitation group, with no differences in ambulation efficiency, in individuals: admitted to rehabilitation within 60 days after stroke onset; aged 49.8 (±11.4) years at admission; 55.3% female sex; moderate stroke severity; 42.1% with ‘good’ motor FIM at baseline; mostly living with sentimental partner (73.7%); with 21.1% holding an university education degree.

Conclusions

The groups showed no significant differences in ambulation efficiency, though the telerehabilitation group achieved higher FAC gains. Our results suggest that home telerehabilitation can be considered a good alternative to in-person rehabilitation when addressing ambulation in patients with moderate stroke severity and whose home situation mostly includes a cohabiting partner.

Keywords: ambulation, functional, matched case-control, motor recovery, rehabilitation outcomes, stroke, subacute, telerehabilitation.

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