• Brooke Hatfield, Deborah Millet, Janice Coles, Julie Gassaway, Brendan Conroy, and Randall J Smout.
• National Rehabilitation Hospital, Washington, DC 20010, USA. brooke.hatfield@medstar.net
• Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 2005 Dec 1; 86 (12 Suppl 2): S61-S72.

UnlabelledHatfield B, Millet D, Coles J, Gassaway J, Conroy B, Smout RJ. Characterizing speech and language pathology outcomes in stroke rehabilitation.ObjectivesTo describe a subset of speech-language pathology (SLP) patients in the Post-Stroke Rehabilitation Outcomes Project and to examine outcomes for patients with low admission FIM levels of auditory comprehension and verbal expression.DesignObservational cohort study.SettingFive inpatient rehabilitation hospitals.ParticipantsPatients (N=397) receiving post-stroke SLP with admission FIM cognitive components at levels 1 through 5.InterventionsNot applicable.Main Outcome MeasureIncrease in comprehension and expression FIM scores from admission to discharge.ResultsCognitively and linguistically complex SLP activities (problem-solving and executive functioning skills) were associated with greater likelihood of success in low- to mid-level functioning communicators in the acute post-stroke rehabilitation period.ConclusionsThe results challenge common clinical practice by suggesting that use of high-level cognitively and linguistically complex SLP activities early in a patient's stay may result in more efficient practice and better outcomes regardless of the patient's functional communication severity level on admission.

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