Abstract
This study investigated the impact of stroke subtypes—ischemic stroke (IS), intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), and subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH)—on long-term participation and functional outcomes 12 months postdischarge. Datasets from two prospective studies were retrospectively analyzed for adults with these stroke subtypes who received inpatient rehabilitation. Outcomes, including Participation Measure-3 Domains, 4 Dimensions (PM-3D4D), Activity Measure for Post-Acute Care, EuroQol 5-Dimension 3-Level, and Montreal Cognitive Assessment scores, were tracked from hospital discharge up to 12 months. Among 646 patients (256 women, mean age 56.6 years), patients with IS (n = 335) and ICH (n = 288) showed similar postdischarge recovery patterns, whereas patients with SAH (n = 23) generally had poorer outcomes at 12 months. The most substantial difference was observed in productivity frequency scores (a PM-3D4D subdomain), with SAH group exhibiting significantly lower scores (0.04 [0–0.09]) compared to IS (0.39 [0.33–0.45]) and ICH (0.44 [0.37–0.51]) groups (P < 0.001). After adjusting for age and sex, better activity function at discharge was found to be an independent predictor of higher PM-3D4D scores 12 months postdischarge. These findings highlight that SAH is associated with poorer long-term outcomes compared to other subtypes, demonstrate subtype-specific profiles, and suggest activity function as a key target for inpatient rehabilitation to enhance participation postdischarge. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1038/s41598-025-19322-x.