Background and Purpose—Stroke, a major health issue affecting the elderly, limits their participation in society. The aim of this study was to investigate changes in stroke survivors’ handicap levels and to identify their determinants in the subacute phase from 3 months to 1 year.

Methods—Data were collected from a prospective cohort of 303 Chinese stroke survivors with the use of questionnaires, including the Lawton Instrumental Activities of Daily Living–Chinese Version (IADL-CV), Barthel Index, Chinese Mini-Mental State Examination, Chinese Geriatric Depression Scale, and the Chinese version of the London Handicap Scale.

Results—A total of 297 and 268 patients were successfully followed up at 6 and 12 months, respectively. Whereas IADL remained unchanged throughout, we found an improvement in Barthel Index but a deterioration in the Chinese Geriatric Depression Scale score at 12 months. Multilevel modeling revealed improvements in the mobility and social integration handicap domains and a deterioration in the orientation domain at 12 months. Overall handicap remained unchanged. At 12 months, depression was most significantly and independently associated with poststroke handicap, and advanced old age alone (>80 years) was associated with clinically significant deterioration in handicap.

Conclusions—Even though IADL remained static at 1 year, mobility and social integration handicap dimensions can be improved in the early community phase after stroke. Nonphysical factors such as depression were confirmed to be significantly associated with handicap. Rehabilitation should target the high-risk group of very elderly stroke survivors who were 4 times more likely to deteriorate in handicap.