Patient- and Hospital-Level Determinants of Rehabilitation for In-Patient Stroke Care: An Observation Analysis

During acute stroke care, rehabilitation usage may be influenced by patient- and hospital-related factors. We would like to identify patient- and hospital-level determinants of population-level inpatient rehabilitation usage associated with acute stroke care. From data obtained from the claim information from the National Health Insurance Administration (NHIA) in Taiwan (2009–2011), we enrolled 82,886 stroke patients with intracerebral hemorrhage and cerebral infarction from 207 hospitals. A generalized linear mixed model (GLMM) analyses with patient-level factors specified as random effects were conducted (for cross-level interactions). The rate of rehabilitation usage was 51% during acute stroke care. The hospital-related factors accounted for a significant amount of variability (intraclass correlation, 50%). Hospital type was the only significant hospital-level variable and can explain the large amount of variability (58%). Patients treated in smaller hospitals experienced few benefits of rehabilitation services, and those with surgery in a smaller hospital used fewer rehabilitation services. All patient-level variables were significant. With GLMM analyses, we identified the hospital type and its cross-level interaction, and explained a large portion of variability in rehabilitation for stroke patients in Taiwan.