Median length of stay was significantly shorter in cerebral infarction compared with intracerebral hemorrhage (17.0 vs 34 days; P < .001), and among transferred patients, higher discharge FIM scores were associated with home discharge rather than long-term care facility placement in both stroke subtypes.
Median total length of stay was significantly shorter in cerebral infarction (CI) compared with intracerebral hemorrhage (CH).
Kaplan-Meier survival analysis demonstrated earlier home discharge in CI and a prolonged, gradual discharge pattern in CH.
Among transferred patients, higher discharge Functional Independence Measure (FIM) scores were associated with home discharge compared with discharge to a long-term care facility (LCF) in both stroke subtypes.
The study was conducted within a coordinated rural Japanese stroke network consisting of one tertiary acute-care hospital and six secondary receiving hospitals.
The authors concluded that incorporating subtype-specific considerations into early prognostic evaluation and discharge planning may support more efficient rehabilitation trajectories and resource allocation in rural healthcare systems.
This research suggests that the type of stroke a patient experiences — either a cerebral infarction (caused by a blocked blood vessel) or an intracerebral hemorrhage (caused by bleeding in the brain) — is strongly associated with how long they stay in the hospital and how quickly they are able to return home. Among 303 stroke patients treated across a network of rural hospitals in Japan in 2024, those with cerebral infarction had a median hospital stay of about 17 days, compared to about 34 days for those with intracerebral hemorrhage. Survival analysis also showed that cerebral infarction patients tended to be discharged home earlier, while intracerebral hemorrhage patients followed a slower, more gradual discharge pattern. For the 121 patients who were transferred from the acute hospital to a secondary facility, the study found that patients who were eventually discharged home had higher functional independence scores (measured by the Functional Independence Measure, or FIM) at the time of discharge than those who were sent to long-term care facilities. This pattern held true for both types of stroke. This research suggests that planning for discharge and rehabilitation after stroke may benefit from taking into account which type of stroke a patient had, particularly in rural healthcare settings where resources may be more limited. Identifying patients' likely recovery trajectories early — based partly on stroke subtype and functional progress — could help hospitals and care networks allocate rehabilitation resources more effectively and plan more appropriate discharge pathways.
Onishi Y, Yoneoka Y, Terajima K, Takada T. (2026). Time to home discharge by stroke subtype in a rural stroke care network: A retrospective cohort study.. Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1097/MD.0000000000050632