The purpose of this pilot study was to look at changes in the roles of wives when their spouses became disabled due to a stroke. Data collection tools included Buxbaum's Marital Role Questionnaire, which was administered first in the rehabilitation hospital and again at home 2 weeks after the spouses' discharge. Ten subjects participated in this study. Results suggest that (a) wives' responsibilities increased significantly after the husband's stroke, (b) wives' satisfaction with household responsibilities decreased significantly after the husband's stroke, and (c) wives' degree of marital unhappiness increased significantly after the husband's stroke. The hypothesis that wives' social activities decreased significantly after a husband's stroke was not supported. The study showed the need for healthcare professionals to assess wives whose husbands had strokes and to evaluate their ability to perform such basic family roles as economic provider, homemaker, and financial manager.

Although several investigators have studied family interaction during times of illness and family participation in rehabilitation, a literature search found nothing about the relation between patient perception of family health and functional outcomes in rehabilitation. The purpose of this study was to determine whether there is such a relationship. The Functional Independence Measure (FIM), designed to measure functional gain in rehabilitation, and the FAMTOOL, designed to measure family health in any healthcare setting, were used to collect data from 100 adult patients at two inpatient rehabilitation centers. A Pearson product moment correlation showed no relation between FAMTOOL scores and FIM gain scores (gain between admission and discharge FIMs). Suggestions are made for further research.