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Abstract
The purpose of this observational study was to assess Guillain–Barre´ syndrome (GBS) patients' satisfaction with physiotherapy in the acute and sub-acute setting, and provide an overview of inpatient case management, including the number of complications. Twenty-seven patients admitted to Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital (SCGH) with GBS between 1 May 2005 and 30 April 2010 were considered for inclusion. Nineteen patients consented and a waiver of consent was granted for four other patients. Data were collected from case-note audit (n = 23) and telephone survey (n = 19) during June and July 2011. Participants receiving physiotherapy (n = 16) reported they were satisfied with management (87%), treatment frequency (88%), duration (94%), and timetabling (81%) of treatment and the professionalism and rapport (100%) of physiotherapists. Median length of hospital stay was 20 days (range 5–198) for 23 participants. Physiotherapists documented patient assessment within 2 days from admission (range 1–5). First functional improvements were documented on day 6 (median, range 2–34). Physiotherapists were most commonly first to mobilize patients to sit, stand, transfer, and walk (83%, 82%, 81%, and 90%, respectively). Twenty patients (87%) developed complications during their hospital stay, the most common being low back pain (61%). This study has demonstrated that GBS patients were satisfied with care provided by physiotherapy.
Acknowledgments
The authors gratefully acknowledge Charley Budgeon (Statistician, University of Western Australia) for her statistical analysis and Tracy Beckwith and Leanne Cormack (Senior Physiotherapists, Physiotherapy Department, Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital) for their general collaboration and review of the manuscript. This study was funded by the SCGH Research Advisory Committee and supported by the SCGH Research Foundation.
Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflict of interest.