Abstract: Objective To study the selection of the follow-up care and related factors in stroke patients after acute treatment in general hospital. Methods A total of 230 acute stroke patients discharged from January to December, 2015, were reviewed. They were classified with age, modified Rankin Scale (mRS) score, referral options, etc., and the key consideration in the selection were compared. Results There were 125 patients needing referral. Referral increased while mRS worsening (P<0.05). The demand for the continuation of rehabilitation was higher in the patients with mRS scores of 0-1 and 2-3 than that of 4-5 (F=4.300, P<0.05), but the latter cared more about medical quality (F=3.464, P<0.05) and hospitalization length (F=3.692, P<0.05). The patients more than 80 years old cared more about medical quality (F=4.630, P<0.05). The patients selecting continuous treatment in our hospital paid more attention on continuation (F=7.590, P<0.001), while those selecting rehabilitation institutions cared more about rehabilitation capacity (F=32.156, P<0.001), and those selecting community hospitals or nursing home cared more about hospitalization length (F=18.823, P<0.001), easy to visit (F=14.070, P<0.001), etc. Referral information mainly came from the doctors (72.0%), only 28.0% from the patients. Conclusion Severity of disability, age and the prognosis may impact the choice for the following rehabilitation in acute stroke patients. Doctors can do more for reasonable referral recommendations to the patients.

Key words: stroke, rehabilitation, referral, related factors