Background:
Transitional care (TC) has been shown to improve
stroke rehabilitation in discharged
stroke patients. Previous TC interventions did not report satisfactory
stroke rehabilitation outcomes or risk management. Incorporating a health behavior theory in interventions can effectively improve health behaviors and metabolic indicators.Objectives: This study was a clinical controlled trial to investigate the impact of the Integrated Behavioral Model (IBM)-based 3-month TC on health behaviors, clinical outcomes, and
stroke knowledge in discharged elderly
stroke patients.Methods: Sixty elderly patients were recruited from two wards of a public teaching hospital in China. To prevent potential treatment contamination, patients were allocated into either a control or intervention group depending on which wards they were admitted to. The TC intervention considered all the IBM constructs to provide patients assistance in implementing health behaviors as recommended by the Chinese
stroke guidelines. The TC intervention commenced one day before discharge and lasted three months after discharge. A linear mixed model was used to measure the impact of the intervention.Results: The TC intervention improved the discharged elderly
stroke patients' health behaviors,
activities of daily living, quality of life, and
stroke knowledge. The intervention also controlled the patients' systolic blood pressure, body mass index, total
cholesterol,
triglycerides, and
low-density lipoprotein cholesterol.Conclusions: This study provided evidence of concurrent self-reported and objective clinical indicators in discharged elderly
stroke patients for the impact of the IBM-based 3-month TC intervention, which can be recommended for clinical practice.