Quality of life 4 years after stroke.

Abstract

The quality of life for 46 stroke survivors under the age of 65 years in a stroke register was studied 4 years after their first stroke. A questionnaire covering four domains of life (working conditions, activities at home, family relationships, and leisure time activities) was used for investigation of the quality of life. The results showed that in spite of a good recovery in terms of discharge from the hospital, activities of daily living, and return to work, the quality of life of most patients (83%) had not been restored to the prestroke level. Deterioration among the several domains of life ranged from 39% to 80%, the lowest being in the domain of activities at home and the highest in the domain of leisure time activities. Hemispheral localization of the lesion, paresis, coordination disturbances, and especially subjective tendency to depression were highly correlated with a deterioration in the quality of life. Dependence in activities of daily living and an inability to return to work were also associated with the lack of restoration. Our results suggest that much more attention should be paid to the quality of life of stroke patients. (Stroke 1988;19:1101-1107)S troke is a major, chronically disabling neurologic disease that often radically and permanently changes the lives of its victims. Medical treatment and occupational and physical therapy have been used to help stroke patients. Discharge from the hospital and the degree of independence achieved in activities of daily living (ADL) have been the usual criteria 1 -5 used to measure the success of rehabilitation. Although many studies 6 -8 have shown that stroke rehabilitation can help a patient to regain and maintain functional abilities, the efficacy of therapeutic interventions has been questioned. However, little attention has been given to the quality of life following expensive, often long treatment. As Feigenson 9 points out, "unless this factor is considered, any statistics used in analysing the benefits of treatment are incomplete and misleading."Although the concept has been only loosely defined, there is agreement that quality of life refers to a person's subjective well-being and life satisfaction and that it includes mental and physical health, material well-being, interpersonal relationships within and outside the family, work and other activities in the community, personal development and fulfillment, and active recreation.10 -13 Despite the fact that the basic definition of quality of life From the Department of Neurology, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.Supported by the Finnish Heart Association. Address for correspondence: Marja-Liisa Niemi, MA, Department of Neurology, University of Helsinki, Haartmaninkatu 4, 00290 Helsinki, Finland. Received November 12, 1987; accepted April 26, 1988. seems to apply to most people, there is a need to focus its evaluation directly on the problems created by illness and disability. 911 The aim of our study was to investigate the quality of life in relation to recovery from stroke. Sub...

Determining Quality of Life and Associated Factors in Patients with Stroke

“…According to these results, we suggest that female patients and patients with lower income should be considered in a well-designed rehabilitation protocol to enhance their QOL. Our findings demonstrated that there was no association between HRQOL and age as previously reported (7,10,25); although some studies demonstrated a negative association between HRQOL and age (11,32,40), another study demonstrated a positive correlation (2). These controversial results may be ascribed to the different methodologies employed in each study.…”

“…For example, there are a limited number of studies investigating the effect of emotional status, functional health, and demographic properties on the QOL of patients with stroke (2,(8)(9)(10)(11). On the basis of previous reports of impairments in life quality of patients with stroke, we speculate that a variety of factors, such as sociodemographic, functional state, disability level, and emotional state, would have a significant influence on HRQOL of patients with stroke.…”

“…Increasing HRQOL of patients has become the current medical target because it is the most important evaluation criteria before, during, and after the implementation of the rehabilitation program (7). Many studies have evaluated HRQOL of patients with stroke and have also investigated the factors affecting HRQOL (2,(8)(9)(10)(11). Some of them have reported disruption in HRQOL (8)(9)(10)12), whereas others have not reported significant changes in HRQOL (2,13).…”

Stroke Impact Scale Version 3.0: Study of Reliability and Validity in Stroke Patients in the Turkish Population

“…Bu benzerlik üst ve alt ekstremite Brunnstrom evreleri arasın-da da görülmüştür. İnme sonrası dönemde yaşam kalitesini etkileyen faktörleri araştıran çalışmaların sonuçları ile uyumlu olarak İEÖ 3,0 için hastaların yaşam kalitelerinin motor gelişim ve fonksiyonellik düzeyi arttıkça olumlu yönde etkilendiği gözlenmiştir (33)(34)(35).…”

Factors predictive of return to work after stroke in patients with mild−moderate disability in India

“…Several studies have suggested that mental health and social support factors may also play an important role in the return to work. Two studies in particular demonstrated that living alone and depression at the time of follow up was associated with a decreased rate of return to work compared to age-matched stroke patients 10,50 , but by and large the areas remain relatively unexplored. Stroke patients often express feelings of hopelessness, helplessness, anxiety, and depression in addition to decreased social contact and growing isolation 48,49 .…”