Stroke Patients and Their Partner’s Perceptions of Survivor Functioning

Abstract

[b]Background: [/b]Research into stroke survivors and their partners have shown that the partner frequently rates the stroke survivor as less capable than the survivors rate themselves through self-report questionnaires or qualitative interviews; however, no research to date has used cognitive tasks as a method for in vestigation. This paper aims to investigate if the stroke survivor or the partner rate the stroke survivor as worse across all cognitive domains. [b]Material/ Methods:[/b]This research aimed to observe the incongruence of stroke survivors and their spouse’s perception of survivor functioning by rating their confidence on Picture Memory, Verbal Memory, Digit Span, Luria’s Three Step Test, NART and Raven’s Matrices. Participants, and to compare these score to see if either could predict the actual score. [b]Results: [/b]Showed that neither the stroke survivor nor the partner consistently rated functioning as worse, but there was a significant difference between the dyad. Further, the stroke survivor and the partner’s confidence had no relationship with raw scores. A thematic analysis was also conducted and themes emerged from the data. These were “Confidence,” “Insight into Ability,” and “Post-Stroke Changes.”[b]Conclusions:[/b]These themes were shown to interlink with the scores provided in the qualitative analysis, and implied that low self-efficacy may be crucial in post stroke recovery. Limitations and implications are discussed in full.

Dyadic appraisals, dyadic coping, and mental health among couples coping with stroke: A longitudinal study protocol

“…Previous studies of stroke couples have already focused on the incongruence between stroke survivors' and spouse' appraisal of the illness, especially in survivors' memory and thinking function (McCarthy, Bakas, Schellinger, Stapleton, & Kissela, 2018; McCarthy & Lyons, 2015; Witty, Heffernan, & Riby, 2017). Qualitative research shows that spouses tend to overestimate the severity of the patient's illness, thereby overprotective patients away from some activity, which may cause the survivors feel be belittled (McCarthy & Lyons, 2015).…”