Most Important Factors for Deciding Rehabilitation Provision for Severe Stroke Survivors Post Hospital Discharge: A Study Protocol for a Best–Worst Scaling Experiment

Efficient decision-making is crucial to ensure adequate rehabilitation with optimal use of healthcare resources. Establishing the factors associated with making decisions concerning rehabilitation provision is important to guide clinical staff towards person-centred decisions for rehabilitation after severe stroke. In this study we conduct a best–worst scaling (BWS) experiment to identify the most important factors and their relative weight of importance for deciding the type of ongoing rehabilitation services a person with severe stroke might receive post hospital discharge. Fractional, efficient designs are applied regarding the survey design. Key multidisciplinary staff regularly involved in making decisions for rehabilitation in a stroke unit will be recruited to participate in an online BWS survey. Hierarchical Bayes estimation will be used as the main analysis method, with the best–worst count analysis as a secondary analysis. The survey is currently being piloted prior to commencing the process of data collection. Results are expected by the end of September 2021. The research will add to the current literature on clinical decision-making in stroke rehabilitation. Findings will quantify the preferences of factors among key multi-disciplinary clinicians working in stroke units in the UK, involved in decision-making concerning rehabilitation after stroke.