Nurse-led Rehabilitation to Improve Self-care Among Stroke Patients in Bangladesh

Stroke causes various levels of disability, which decreases physical function for a prolonged period. The purpose of this study is to test the feasibility and efficacy of a nurse-led rehabilitation program focused on improving the activity of daily living (ADL) among post-stroke patients in Bangladesh. A feasibility study, including descriptive and randomized controlled trial (RCT), will be conducted at the National Institute of Neuroscience \& Hospital (NINS\&H) in Dhaka, Bangladesh, from March 2025 to August 2025. Participants will be the post-stroke patients who got discharged from NINS\&H from 5th days to 2 weeks after the onset of stroke and the family caregivers of the patients and meet the inclusion criteria. The sample size will be calculated based on G-Power analysis with a medium effect size and will be 64. The intervention will be designed to provide the 3-month nurse-led rehabilitation program regarding self-care and the use of assistive devices. Assessment for rehabilitation will be performed by the multidisciplinary team with research nurses (RA nurses), physiotherapists (PT), and occupational therapists (OT). The control group will receive the usual care. The Functional Independence Measure (FIM) measures the primary outcome as improved self-care. The secondary outcomes are self-efficacy and participation in social activities for patients and the care burden of family caregivers. We also qualitatively describe changes and improvements of cognitive, emotional, and behavioral aspects among patients and their families. The endpoints will be compared at baseline and the 3rd month. Rehabilitation with proper assistive devices may improve self-dependence, ADL, and social participation. The caregiver's burden will decrease through the implementation of self-care education and assistive devices for daily life adjustment.