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Few survivors of stroke or brain injury receive high-quality care
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Only 22% are referred to an inpatient rehabilitation program in a hospital
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This affects less than 1 in 4 stroke patients and 1 in 7 traumatic brain injury patients.
THURSDAY, June 11, 2026 (NewsDay News) — Few people who have had a stroke or brain injury are being offered high-quality, hospital-based rehabilitation, a new study says.
Only about 22% of patients with stroke, brain or spinal cord injury are referred to inpatient rehabilitation after their hospitalization, researchers reported in the journal June 10. Neuroscience Open Access.
This affects less than 1 in 4 stroke patients and 1 in 7 brain injury patients, the researchers said.
“Inpatient rehab facilities provide more than three hours of intensive rehabilitative care per day than nursing facilities,” said the senior research fellow. Dr. A.S. Farhan Akhtarvice president of research at Memorial Hermann in Houston.
“Acute rehabilitation after stroke, brain and spinal cord injury can improve an individual’s recovery, but access to inpatient rehabilitation care remains inconsistent and may not be equitable,” he said in a news release.
For the new study, researchers reviewed health records from 2016 to 2019 in five states — Florida, Georgia, Maryland, New York and Washington.
The group found that about 445,000 adults were hospitalized for stroke, traumatic brain injury or spinal cord injury. 75% of the patients had a stroke, 24% had a brain injury, and 1% had a spinal cord injury.
The results showed that 22% were sent to inpatient rehabilitation after hospitalization, 26% to a nursing facility, and 54% were sent to home.
Overall, only 22% of those with a stroke and 14% of those with a traumatic brain injury went to inpatient rehabilitation, compared to 44% of those with a spinal cord injury.
The researchers also found some disparities between the groups offered inpatient rehabilitation.
The researchers found that older people around age 75 were 4% more likely to seek inpatient rehab than those with an average age of 63.
The researchers found that women were 19% more likely to receive inpatient treatment than men, and blacks were 29% more likely than whites.
However, the study said black people were 10% less likely to be sent to inpatient rehab compared to a nursing facility when excluding all those sent home.
The results also showed that private insurance compared to Medicare meant a 35% reduction in inpatient hospitalizations, and living in a high-income index was 12% less likely than living in a low-income area.
“Providing equitable access to acute inpatient rehabilitation can help improve long-term outcomes for people with these conditions,” Vahidi said. “Future research should further examine differences in care and develop interventions to reduce disparities.”
More information
The University of Rochester Medical Center has more information inpatient rehabilitation.
Sources: American Academy of Neurology, news release, June 10, 2026; Neuroscience Open AccessJune 2026
What does this mean for you?
Family and friends of patients recovering from a stroke or traumatic brain injury should inquire about inpatient rehabilitation programs available to them.
