After the initial poststroke recovery period, patients slowly lose independence
rather than remaining stable as expected, researchers said.

Explain to interested patients that the study revealed a trajectory of
recovery then gradual loss of independence after a stroke.

Note that the study did not have a control group for comparison of
functional decline over time not related to stroke.
Beyond the first six months after an ischemic stroke, the likelihood
of retaining ability to live with little assistance dropped as much as
9% per year over five years, Mandip S. Dhamoon, MD, MPH, of Columbia
University in New York, and colleagues reported in Stroke: Journal of
the American Heart Association.

Their population-based study revealed a particularly prominent decline
in functional status among those with poorer health insurance coverage
and thus poorer access to healthcare.

http://www.medpagetoday.com/Geriatrics/Strokes/14869