The Influence of Neurological Rehabilitation on Patients’ Quality of Life After Ischemic Stroke: A Prospective Study in Romania

Abstract

Background: Stroke is a public health problem in Romania, with important medical, social and financial implications, and sustained efforts are being made to improve post-stroke rehabilitation phase. A significant concern nowadays is the patient's quality of life (QOL); a successful stroke recovery therapy implies the increasing of QOL index. However, there are very few studies evaluating patients' QOL after stroke in Romania. In this context, the aim of this study was to evaluate the benefits that 1-year rehabilitation therapy brings to a patient with a history of ischemic stroke, highlighting the factors that influence the QOL index. Methods: A prospective study was conducted in which the QOL (calculated using the stroke-specific QOL (SSQOL) questionnaire) was measured in a group of 40 patients who had suffered an ischemic stroke in the left middle cerebral artery territory and benefited from rehabilitation therapy for 1 year. Patients admitted in our Neurology Department between January 2018 and June 2019 were divided into several subgroups according to age, gender, domicile, educational level, familial support and comorbidities. Statistical data were processed in SPSS v.20. Results: Among the individual factors studied, young age (under 60) showed a positive impact on QOL improvement after 1 year of stroke rehabilitation therapy (P = 0.005). This was explained by the young patient's profile, with urban domicile (55% vs. 45%), higher educational level (60% vs. 40%) and family support. The best recovered functions as noted by the questionnaire were language (18.25 ± 4.95; P = 0.015), upper motor functions (21.50 ± 2.70; P = 0.039), personality (12 ± 0.81; P = 0.032) and family roles (11.53 ± 1.81; P = 0.007). On the other hand, patient's gender (male 155.55 ± 31.21 vs. female 152.94 ± 28.14) did not influence the outcome of the therapy (P = 0.267). Conclusion: Stroke rehabilitation treatment is an essential component for improving the QOL of the patient after stroke; it has become topic of concern in the literature nowadays. This work complements the existing data on this topic for stroke patients in Romania.