Primary objective: To describe the functional outcome of 19 patients with anterior communicating artery aneurysm following the completion of an inter-disciplinary out-patient rehabilitation programme.
Research design: Retrospective descriptive study.
Setting: Community-based inter-disciplinary outpatient programme.
Patients: n = 19; consecutive referred sample, mean 182 days post-onset; in-patient rehabilitation completed.
Intervention: Inter-disciplinary treatment of functional activities; 2-5 hours/day, 3-5 days/week; mean duration: 55-57 days.
Main outcome measures: Supervision rating scale (SRS) and change in prevalence at admission and discharge of executive impairments, memory, confabulation, apathy, initiation, social inappropriateness and incontinence.
Results: Sixty per cent of the patients showed a clinically significant improvement in their SRS from requiring full-time supervision to part-time supervision. Change in SRS was correlated with change in the impairments of executive function, memory and confabulation.
Conclusion: Although pervasive impairments associated with this disorder may limit capacity for even moderate independence, substantial reduction in direct supervision by family members may be achieved.