Disability, rehabilitation and after-care of stroke patients after discharge from hospital, Singapore 1983-84.

135 new onset stroke patients admitted over a nine-month period to a medical unit in Singapore were studied with emphasis on their rehabilitation and community care after discharge. Follow-up visits were made to 79 survivors at third month after onset. 16.7% of the patients made apparently complete recoveries, 20.3% remained slightly disabled, 21.5% moderately disabled, and the remaining 41.8% severely disabled. Sixty-five patients were staying in private households at third month follow-up. The main care-givers were usually female relatives. These informal carers assisted a large proportion of patients in various activities of living: 62.0% in dressing, 54.4% in walking and toileting, 30.4% in feeding, and 22.8% in turning in bed. The study establishes the need to develop and strengthen supportive services to enable disabled stroke patients to be cared for in their own homes. These include the home nursing service, elderly day care service, home help service, and meals-on-wheel service.