OPEN ACCESS Jacobs Journal of Physical Rehabilitation Medicine Stroke Rehabilitation Daily Intensity in Acute Stroke and Stroke Rehabilitation Units in Wellington New Zealand Harry McNaughton *1, 2 , Lai-kin Wong 2 , Ruth Leadbetter 2 , Thalib Mowjood 2 , Kate Barnard 2 , Jeremy Lanford 2 , Vivian Fu 2 1 Medical Research Institute of New Zealand 2 Capital and Coast District Health Board *Corresponding author: Dr. Harry McNaughton, Programme Director Stroke and Rehabilitation research, Medical Research Institute of New Zealand, Private Bag 7902, Wellington 6242 New Zealand, Tel: +64 4 8050147: Email: harry.mcnaughton@mrinz.ac.nz Received: 07-07-2015 Accepted: 07-31-2015 Published: 08-10-2015 Copyright: © 2015 Harry Research Article Cite this article: McNaughton H. Stroke Rehabilitation Daily Intensity in Acute Stroke and Stroke Rehabilitation Units in Wellington New Zealand. J J Physical Rehab Med. 2015, 1(2): 007. Abstract Background: The ideal level and content of daily rehabilitation is unknown. We wished to measure the intensity of usual inpatient stroke rehabilitation in our stroke service and to compare this to guideline recommendations. Method: Prospective cohort study of 51 consecutive patients with acute stroke, managed initially in the acute stroke unit (ASU) and followed to discharge into the community, either directly or via the stroke rehabilitation unit (SRU) at a single district health board in Wellington, New Zealand (NZ). Details of actual contact time between rehabilitation clinicians in rehabilitation activities were recorded for each day of the hospital stay. The type of activity and level were recorded for each contact. Descriptive statistics were used. Results There were 51 stroke patients of whom 47% were transferred for inpatient rehabilitation. Rehabilitation contact events were recorded on 773 days of which 551 were ‘full days’, excluding weekends, transfer days and days when the patient was medically unwell. Mean daily rehabilitation contact time on ‘full days’ was 64 minutes on the ASU and 53 minutes on the SRU. On the ASU and SRU, 55% and 40% respectively of ‘full days’ met the NZ stroke guideline target of 60 minutes or more contact time and only 3% of days met the recent United Kingdom National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE) guideline standard (2013) as we interpreted it. Conclusion: Mean daily rehabilitation intensity was lower than recommended in recent guidelines. Improving systems to consistently deliver adequate doses of rehabilitation clinician time should be a priority. Keywords: Stroke; Rehabilitation; Therapy; Intensity