Table 1.

Characteristics of the study population

	Stroke service	Usual care
N entire EDISSE population	151	187
N with full six month follow-up	90	114
Age	72	73
Women	43 (48%)	65 (57%)
Low educational level (primary school or lower)	34 (38%)	18 (16%)
Living alone at home before stroke	25 (28%)	40 (35%)
Previous stroke	30 (33%)	33 (29%)
Lowered level of consciousness according to Glasgow Coma Scale	3 (3%)	4 (4%)
Haemorrhagic stroke	8(9%)	10 (9%)
Cardiovascular co-morbidity	60 (67%)	66 (58%)
Barthel score at admission:
Means (SD)	10.8 (6.17)	9.5 (6.19)
Median (Range)	11.5 (0-20)	9 (0-20)