Weight Change during the Early Phase of Convalescent Rehabilitation after Stroke as a Predictor of Functional Recovery: A Retrospective Cohort Study

It has been reported that weight gain at discharge compared with admission is associated with improved activities of daily living in convalescent rehabilitation (CR) patients with low body mass index. Here, we investigated whether weight maintenance or gain during the early phase of CR after stroke correlates with a better functional recovery in patients with a wide range of BMI values. We conducted this retrospective cohort study in a CR ward of our hospital and included adult stroke patients admitted to the ward from January 2014 to December 2018. After ~1 month of hospitalization, the patients were classified into weight loss and weight maintenance or gain (WMG) groups based on the Global Leadership Initiative on Malnutrition criteria for weight. We adopted the motor functional independence measure (FIM) gain as the primary outcome. The motor FIM gain tended to be greater in the WMG group but without statistical significance. However, multiple regression analysis showed that WMG was significantly and positively associated with motor FIM gain. In conclusion, weight maintenance or gain in patients during the early phase of CR after stroke may be considered as a predictor of their functional recovery, and nutritional management to prevent weight loss immediately after the start of rehabilitation would contribute to this.