You need to scream at your doctor for being incompetent if you get this test. Your doctor should be giving you protocols for recovery not this, 'Well, according to this test, you'll only recover so much. No point in giving you much rehab.' Hell, why not just figure out the 10% of survivors who fully recover and throw up your hands in defeat for that other 90%? It would be faster and you could save the insurance companies vast amounts of money. .
Simple Test May Help Predict Long-Term Outcome After Stroke
A
simple test taken within 1 week of a stroke may help predict how well
people will have recovered up to 3 years later, according to a study
published in Neurology.
“We found that this test, which takes less than 10 minutes, can help predict whether people will have impaired thinking skills, problems that keep them from performing daily tasks such as bathing and dressing, and even whether they will be more likely to die,” said Martin Dichgans, MD, Ludwig-Maximilians University, Munich, Germany. “This test should be used to screen people with stroke and to counsel them and their families about long-term prognosis and also to identify those who would most benefit from interventions that could improve their outcomes.”
For the study, 274 people in Germany and France who had a stroke were given the Montreal Cognitive Assessment within 1 week of the stroke. They were then divided into 2 groups: those with no problems with thinking and memory skills and those with cognitive impairment. The participants were tested for their thinking and memory skills, motor functioning, and ability to complete daily living tasks 6 months later and then at 1 and 3 years after the stroke.
The study found that those who had thinking problems within 1 week of the stroke were 7 times more like to die during the 3 years of the study than those who did not have thinking problems. The survival rate for those with thinking problems after 3 years was 83%, while the rate was 97% for those with no thinking problems early on.
Those with thinking problems on the first test were also 5 times more likely to have problems with their motor skills than those who did not have thinking problems early on. By 3 years after the stroke, 29% of those with thinking problems on the first test had problems with their motor skills, compared with 5% of those who did not have thinking problems early on.
Those with cognitive impairment were more than twice as likely to have problems completing their daily activities such as bathing and dressing, with 42% having problems compared with 13% 3 years after the stroke.
Those with cognitive impairment were 5 times more likely to continue having thinking problems 3 years after the stroke than the other group.
Dr. Dichgans noted that the test helped predict outcomes even when other factors such as the severity of the stroke were taken into account.
A limitation of the study was that most of the people involved had relatively mild strokes, so more research is needed to determine whether the results apply to people with more severe strokes.
Reference: http://n.neurology.org/lookup/doi/10.1212/WNL.0000000000006506
SOURCE: American Academy of Neurology
“We found that this test, which takes less than 10 minutes, can help predict whether people will have impaired thinking skills, problems that keep them from performing daily tasks such as bathing and dressing, and even whether they will be more likely to die,” said Martin Dichgans, MD, Ludwig-Maximilians University, Munich, Germany. “This test should be used to screen people with stroke and to counsel them and their families about long-term prognosis and also to identify those who would most benefit from interventions that could improve their outcomes.”
For the study, 274 people in Germany and France who had a stroke were given the Montreal Cognitive Assessment within 1 week of the stroke. They were then divided into 2 groups: those with no problems with thinking and memory skills and those with cognitive impairment. The participants were tested for their thinking and memory skills, motor functioning, and ability to complete daily living tasks 6 months later and then at 1 and 3 years after the stroke.
The study found that those who had thinking problems within 1 week of the stroke were 7 times more like to die during the 3 years of the study than those who did not have thinking problems. The survival rate for those with thinking problems after 3 years was 83%, while the rate was 97% for those with no thinking problems early on.
Those with thinking problems on the first test were also 5 times more likely to have problems with their motor skills than those who did not have thinking problems early on. By 3 years after the stroke, 29% of those with thinking problems on the first test had problems with their motor skills, compared with 5% of those who did not have thinking problems early on.
Those with cognitive impairment were more than twice as likely to have problems completing their daily activities such as bathing and dressing, with 42% having problems compared with 13% 3 years after the stroke.
Those with cognitive impairment were 5 times more likely to continue having thinking problems 3 years after the stroke than the other group.
Dr. Dichgans noted that the test helped predict outcomes even when other factors such as the severity of the stroke were taken into account.
A limitation of the study was that most of the people involved had relatively mild strokes, so more research is needed to determine whether the results apply to people with more severe strokes.
Reference: http://n.neurology.org/lookup/doi/10.1212/WNL.0000000000006506
SOURCE: American Academy of Neurology
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