Dynamics of quality of life indicators of patients with hemorrhagic hemisphere stroke at the early recovery period of the disease

Abstract

Objective — to investigate the indicators of the quality of life in patients suffering from a hemorrhagic hemispherestroke in the early recovery period in dynamics using SF‑36v2 questionnaire and to reveal the factors which affect these indicators.
 Methods and subjects. An open‑label, cohort study of 46 patients suffering from a hemorrhagic hemispherestroke (HHS) in the early recovery period was performed in ZSMU nervous diseases clinic. Among the patients there were 31 (67.4 %) men and 15 (32.6 %) women. The average age of the patients was 57.15 ± 9.53 years. The patients underwent comprehensive investigation of HHS on the 30th, 90th, and 180th day of the disease using the following scales: National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) to objectively evaluate the condition severity; Modified Rankin Scale (mRS) to assess the rate of functional recuperation and disability; Barthel Index (BI) to evaluate the possibility of everyday skills and self‑care; Motor Assessment Scale (MAS) to indicate the muscle spasticity in the upper and lower limbs; quality of life assessment according to the SF‑36v2 Health Survey questionnaire.
 Results. The study found that significant decrease of all life quality indicators, evaluated on SF‑36v2 scale, was observed on the 30th day of HHS patients. The physical functioning, the physical role functioning, and the social role functioning section scores were the most decreased. A reliable improvement of the physical and mental part of health during the early recovery period was observed.
 Conclusions. A statistically significant correlation was found between the NIHSS, mRS, BI scores and all quality of life indicators according to SF‑36v2, except for the intensity of pain on the 30th day of the disease. A statistically significant effect of the presence of manifestations of spasticity on the physical component of health during the early recovery period, as well as on the indicator of pain intensity on the 30th day of the disease, was established.