Quality of Life Among Stroke Survivors; A Descriptive Study

Abstract

Background: Drop in physical activity is the second higher risk factor for stroke. After hypertension, the reduction in physical activity by less than four hours in one week leads to stroke. Survivors of stroke had higher mortality rates than cancer survivors. Objective: To determine the quality of life among stroke survivors Methodology: This was an observational study conducted in different public and private hospitals in Lahore, Pakistan. The study was conducted from September 2018 to December 2018. Data was collected through a non-probability convenient sampling technique. A total of 134 patients, male, and female who survived sub-acute and chronic stroke were included in the study while patients who were suffering from acute stroke or any other neurological disease were excluded from the study. All the participants who were willing to take part in the study gave written consent. Data was collected by a well-characterized stroke-specific quality of life questionnaire and analyzed by SPSS-21. Results: Among 134 participants, the mean age was (55.63±10.806 years). 73 (54.48%) female and 61(45.52%) male patients participated in the study. The total score of the stroke-specific quality of life was 245 and the patients showed mean scores (of 123.8±35.27) respectively. Mean±standard deviation values of stroke-specific quality of life domains showed that most of the participants reported problems in four areas; energy (6.59±3.11), family roles (7.74±3.26), personality (7.32±3.14), work and productivity (6.36±3.29). Conclusion: The study concluded that major distressing areas which mostly affect the quality of life of stroke survivors were energy, family roles, personality, and work and productivity correspondingly. Keywords: Quality of life, Survivors, Stroke.

Keywords

• quality of life, survivors, stroke, cerebrovascular accident