Rehabilitation of Stroke Patients in India: An Exploratory Study from a National-Level Survey Data

Abstract

Background: Stroke is one of the significant public health challenges and one of the critical causes of
disability. It has been forecasted that globally age group 6o and above will outnumber children under age
14 in 2047. With the increasing rate of survival, the burden of stroke is going to increase continuously.
Currently, old age people suffer from stroke, which limits their activities of daily living. This study explores
the determinants of stroke survivors seeking rehabilitation services and the factors affecting them.
Methods: In this study, first wave of Longitudinal aging study in India (LASI) data has been used. The data
was collected from all the States and Union Territories across India in 2017-2018. A total number of 72,265
individuals (45 years and above) participated in this study. Subjects who have been ever diagnosed with
stroke by any health care professionals were considered as the study population. Subjects were categorized
into two groups based on accessing rehabilitation services. For the data analysis, survey-weighted tools have
been applied for descriptive statistics and multivariable logistic regression model. The data analysis used R
version 4 using R studio.
Results and Discussion: The prevalence of stroke is 1.8% in India. Nearly 40% of them visited Physical
therapy or Occupational therapy services for their rehabilitation. Household economical condition, gender,
residence, requirement of additional help for daily activities and availability of health insurance are strongly
determining visiting rehabilitation services. The summary of this will help to develop our understanding of,
why people are not availing of rehabilitation services despite having multiple problems.