EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE UNTIL 4 PM ET, June 10, 2026
Fewer than 1 in 4 with stroke, 1 in 7 with brain injury receive inpatient rehab
Disparities found across sex, race, insurance and income
Highlights:
- A new study has found fewer than one in four people hospitalized due to stroke, and fewer than one in seven with traumatic brain injury, are discharged to an inpatient rehabilitation facility.
- The analysis of 444,908 people with stroke, traumatic brain injury and spinal cord injury found 22% were sent to inpatient rehabilitation, 26% to skilled nursing facilities, and 54% were discharged home.
- Researchers found disparities in inpatient rehabilitation access. Female participants were more likely to receive inpatient rehabilitation than male participants, and Black people had higher odds than white people, while Hispanic people had lower odds.
- Researchers note several limitations when interpreting these findings. The analysis looked back at administrative data and cannot determine causal relationships.
- The study also cannot account for unmeasured factors that influence hospital discharge, especially social and individual factors not captured in medical records.
- Having private insurance or Medicaid versus Medicare or living in the highest income areas versus lowest income areas were associated with lower odds of being discharged to an institutional rehabilitation facility.
- The study鈥檚 authors emphasize the need for more equitable access to intensive inpatient rehabilitation to improve outcomes and call for further research to help reduce disparities.
MINNEAPOLIS 鈥 Fewer than one in four people with stroke and fewer than one in seven people with traumatic brain injury receive inpatient rehabilitation care after being hospitalized, according to a study published on June 10, 2026, in , an official journal of the . Researchers found disparities in access across sex, race, insurance coverage and income level.
鈥淩eceiving intensive rehabilitation after stroke, traumatic brain injury and spinal cord injury can improve a person鈥檚 recovery, yet access to inpatient rehabilitation care remains inconsistent and may not be equitable,鈥 said study author Farhaan S. Vahidy, MBBS, PhD, of TIRR Memorial Hermann in Houston, Texas, and a member of the 麻豆传媒映画.
鈥淚npatient rehabilitation facilities provide more intensive rehabilitation care, usually more than three hours per day, than skilled nursing facilities,鈥 said Vahidy. 鈥淥ur study found fewer people receive this type of rehabilitation than are likely eligible, with concerning disparities affecting historically marginalized communities, people with Medicaid and those from lower-income areas.鈥
For the study, researchers reviewed four years of health records in five states to identify 444,908 adults hospitalized for stroke, traumatic brain injury and traumatic spinal cord injury. They had an average age of 69. Of participants, 75% had stroke, 24% had TBI and 1% had spinal cord injury. After hospitalization, 22% were discharged to inpatient rehabilitation facilities, 26% to skilled nursing facilities and 54% were sent home.
Researchers found just 22% of those with stroke and 14% of those with traumatic brain injury were sent to an inpatient rehabilitation facility, while the number was 44% of those with spinal cord injury. That is fewer than one in four people with stroke and one in seven people with brain injury discharged to an inpatient rehabilitation facility.
Researchers also looked at the differences between various groups of people.
After adjusting for factors such as insurance, a person鈥檚 home residence and health factors like high blood pressure and diabetes, researchers found older people with an average age of 75 had 4% higher odds than younger people with an average age of 63 of being discharged to an inpatient rehabilitation facility versus home, female participants had 19% higher odds than male participants, and Black people had 29% higher odds than white people while Hispanic people had 22% lower odds.
The researchers note several limitations when interpreting these findings. The analysis looked back at administrative data and cannot determine causal relationships or account for unmeasured factors that influence hospital discharge, especially social and individual factors not captured in medical records.
Researchers also found that having private insurance or Medicaid versus Medicare and living in areas with the highest average income compared to areas with the lowest average income were associated with 12% lower odds of being discharged to an institutional rehabilitation facility.
When looking only at people discharged to rehabilitation or skilled nursing care, and not those sent home, Black people had 10% lower odds of being discharged to a rehabilitation facility than a skilled nursing facility.
鈥淓nsuring equitable access to intensive inpatient rehabilitation can help improve long-term outcomes for people with these conditions,鈥 said Vahidy. 鈥淔uture studies should further examine differences in care and develop interventions to reduce disparities.鈥
Another limitation of the study was that the data reviewed did not include information on the severity of strokes, traumatic brain injuries and spinal cord injuries.
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