Home-time Is a Patient-Centered Outcome Variable for Stroke: An Executive Summary

Background An outcome measure to assess functional recovery after stroke that is easily obtainable and meaningful to the patient can be very useful for assessing risks and benefits of therapeutic strategies. Home-time, which is defined as the total number of days spent alive by the patient at home, outside healthcare institutions after discharge from an index stroke event, is an example of a patient-centered outcomemeasure that meets this need. The first known description of home-time as an outcome measure for stroke was noted in a study published in Stroke in 2008. In this study, home-time was demonstrated to be a robust and objective measure of poststroke recovery. In 2013, the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute provided funding for a study entitled ‘‘PatientCentered Research into Outcomes Stroke Patient Prefer and Effectiveness Research’’ (PROSPER), which aimed to help patients, caregivers, and healthcare providers to make informed decisions regarding stroke care through comparative effectiveness research. Through qualitative work with patient partners, time spent at home after stroke was identified as a high-priority outcome. The home-time metric represents this value as an easy-tounderstand concept, defined and measurable in terms relevant to patients and their caregivers.