Caring for stroke survivors put social, emotional, health and financial burdens and strains on the informal caregivers. These burdens and strains increase with duration of stroke, intimacy, smaller number of caregivers and length of daily caregiving. Therefore, informal caregivers should be involved in the rehabilitation plan for stroke patients and their well-being should also be given adequate attention.

Hyperarousal symptoms are associated with lower physical activity participation among people with PTSD and should be considered in the design and delivery of individualized exercise programs targeting this population. The role of social, environmental, and policy factors on physical activity participation among people with PTSD is unknown and should be addressed by future research.

KEYWORDSNigeria; quality of life; stroke survivors Abstract There have been few studies on quality of life (QoL) of Nigerian stroke survivors and none have reported QoL over a long period. This study describes QoL in Nigerian stroke survivors over the first 12 months post-stroke. Sixty-five (33 male and 32 female) stroke survivors were recruited within 72 hours of stroke onset. QoL and depression were assessed monthly for 12 months using the Stroke-Specific Quality of Life Scale and Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale. Data were analysed using the KruskaleWallis test, Friedman test and logistic regression. Fifty-five participants (aged 57.4 AE 14.8 years) completed this study. QoL improved significantly from onset to 6 months but nonsignificantly from 6 months to 12 months. Most (85.2%) stroke survivors had severe depression at 1 month. At 3 months, marital status and spousal support had a significant positive influence on QoL. At 6, 9 and 12 months, marital status, spousal support, educational qualification, and occupational status had a significant positive influence on QoL. Depression was a major determinant of QoL at 3, 6, 9 and 12 months. Our findings suggest that QoL of Nigerian stroke survivors is low at stroke onset, increases steadily during the first 6 months and little between 6 months and 12 months post-stroke; is influenced positively by marital status, spousal support, educational qualification and occupational status; and negatively influenced by age and depression.

Quality of life (QoL) data have been used to assess treatment outcomes and to guide programme and rehabilitation efforts. QoL data in stroke survivors (SSV) from Nigeria are rare. This study compared the QoL of 84 SSV and 87 matched apparently healthy individuals (AH) in southwestern Nigeria. The effect of poststroke duration (PSD) on QoL and the relationship between QoL and motor performance (MP) were also investigated. SSV were recruited from all (7) tertiary health institutions in southwestern Nigeria. The fifth edition of Comprehensive Quality of Life Adult questionnaire and the Modified Motor Assessment Scale were used to assessed QoL and MP, respectively. Data were analyzed by using Mann-Whitney U-test, Spearman's correlation test, independent t-test, and Kruskaal-Wallis test (alpha=0.05). The SSV and AH were aged 59.7+/-11.9 and 60.0+/-12.1, respectively. SSVs' mean PSD and MP score were 17.8+/-15.4 months and 55.3%+/-18.9%, respectively. Objective QoL of SSV (42+/-12.8) was significantly lower (p < 0.05) than that of the AH (56.3+/-6.7). Subjective QoL of SSV (67.8+/-10.6) was also significantly lower than that of the AH (74.2+/-6.4). AH had significantly higher QoL than SSV in all but material, intimacy, and safety (subjective and objective) domains. There was no significant relationship between MP and QoL, and PSD had no significant influence on QoL. Our findings suggest that stroke survivors in southwestern Nigeria have lower QoL than their apparently healthy counterparts and may benefit from comprehensive management programmes.