OBJECTIVE: To provide recovery rates after stroke for specific functions using 
the Orpington Prognostic Scale (OPS).
DESIGN: Prospective cohort.
SETTING: Hospital and community.
PARTICIPANTS: 413 stroke survivors entered the study 3 to 14 days after 
suffering a stroke.
MEASUREMENTS: A cohort of hospitalized stroke survivors were recruited 3 to 14 
days after stroke and assessed at 1, 3, and 6 months poststroke for 
neurological, functional, and health status. Baseline OPS score was used to 
predict five functional outcomes at 3 and 6 months using development and 
validation datasets and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves.
RESULTS: In 413 stroke survivors, functional recovery rates at 3 and 6 months 
were similar. Baseline OPS predicted significant differences in recovery rates 
for all five outcomes (P < .0001 for all five outcomes at 3 and 6 months). 
Personal care dependence was present at 3 months in only 3% of persons with 
baseline OPS scores of 3.2 or less compared with over 50% with OPS of 4.8 or 
higher. Independent personal care, meal preparation, and self-administration of 
medication were achieved by 80% who had baseline OPS scores of 2.4 or lower 
compared with less than 20% when OPS scores were 4.4 or higher. Independent 
community mobility was achieved in 50% of those who had OPS scores of 2.4 or 
lower but only 3% of those with OPS scores of 4.4 or higher. The area under ROC 
curves assessing OPS scores against each of the five outcomes ranged from 0.805 
to 0.863 at 3 months and 0.74 to 0.806 at 6 months.
CONCLUSION: OPS scores can predict widely differing rates of functional recovery 
in five important functional abilities. These estimates can be useful to 
survivors, families, providers, and healthcare systems who need to plan for the 
future.