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A Randomized Controlled Trial
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 19 December 2002
Objective: The objective was to compare and evaluate assistive technology given to patients treated in a stroke unit and patients treated in a general medical ward.
Method: Use and cost of assistive technology was evaluated in a randomized study comprising 249 patients during a 12-month period.
Result: Acute stroke unit care was associated with a higher prescription of assistive devices during the first 3 months. There was no difference in use and total mean cost per patient of assistive technology during the first year after stroke.
Conclusion: There was no difference in use or cost of assistive technology during the first year, but a beneficial effect was found on supplementary prescription of assistive devices during the first 3 months. The cost during the first year after stroke was a small fraction of the total costs for care and rehabilitation. It is a not expensive for the community to equip these patients and their caregivers with assistive technology, and economic resources should be available to this vulnerable group of elderly patients.