Impact of visitor restrictions on rehabilitation outcomes during COVID-19 pandemic conditions for inpatients with stroke or fractures in rehabilitation ward

This study examined the impact of visitor restrictions due to coronavirus disease 2019 on the psychological, cognitive, and activities of daily living aspects of patients admitted to a rehabilitation ward. This retrospective cohort study included inpatients with stroke (N = 98) or fractures (N = 102). Age, amount of rehabilitation provided, and the Berg Balance Scale, Barthel Index, Revised Hasegawa's Dementia Scale (HDS-R), and vitality index (VI) results were compared between patients hospitalized with and without visitor restrictions. Significant differences between the visitor restriction and no-restriction groups were observed in age for patients with stroke (P = .02) and the amount of rehabilitation provided for patients with stroke and fractures (P < .01). Regarding rehabilitation outcomes, the median VI score for the visitor restriction group 2 months after hospitalization was 8 (25th to 75th percentile 7-9), which was significantly lower than the score of 9 (8-10) for the no-restriction group of patients with stroke (effect size r = 0.21, P = .04). No significant differences were observed in the Berg Balance Scale, Barthel Index, Revised Hasegawa's Dementia Scale, and VI scores at admission and after 1 and 2 months for patients with fractures. These results suggest that visitor restrictions may have a small but negative effect on the motivation of patients with stroke as their hospital stay lengthens. The findings of this study contribute to understanding the effects visitor restrictions have on patient rehabilitation that can be useful in implementing treatment strategies.