The Impact Of Age On Function Recovery In The Acute Phase Of Cerebral Infarction

Objective: To compare neurological function, daily activity and walking function of patients with acute cerebral infarction in different age groups. And to provide necessary research foundation for further randomized controlled study on stroke rehabilitation of our project.Methods: 126 inpatients with acute cerebral infarction and having received rehabilitation treatment in our department from 2013 to 2014 were involved and divided into 4 groups according to age: Group A(≤54 years), Group B(55-64 years), Group C(65-74 years), Group D(≥75 years). Neurological function, daily activity and walking performance were evaluated by National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale(NIHSS), Barthel Index(BI) and Functional Ambulation Category(FAC) separately before and after rehabilitation intervention.Result: The BI difference and FAC difference of Group D was significantly lower than those of Group B(P<0.05), correlation analysis showed the negative linear correlation between BI difference and age(P<0.05, r=-0.212). Lower discharge NIHSS score(NIHSS1) was observed in Group D than Group B and C(P<0.05). Daily improvement ratio of BI in Group A and B were obviously higher than Group D(P≤0.01). The improved BI([BI1-BI0]/[100-BI1]*100%) of Group D was significantly lower than others(P<0.05).Conclusion: Age is an important factor for the recovery of neurological function, activities of daily living and walking performance in patients with acute cerebral infarction. The functional recovery of patients aged over 75 years were significantlylower than others both in improvement degree and recovery speed. However, no significant differences were observed in those younger(≤75 years) cerebral infarction patients.