Life after Stroke: A Comparative Study

Abstract

Stroke is a chronic illness and is the leading cause of disability globally in the adult population. The effects of stroke are wide ranging and impact on the stroke survivor’s daily functioning and quality of life. To date, most research has focused on short-term outcomes in a clinical setting, rather than examining the longer term consequences of stroke in those who live in the community. To address this, the current study explored daily functioning and participation in a community based stroke sample aged 55-85 years (>2 years post-stroke), compared to a control sample of the same sex and age. Participants completed a battery of questionnaires, (modified Rankin Scale, Barthel Index, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, EuroQol-5 Dimension, and the Short Form-36), and two brief cognitive screening tests (Mini Mental State Examination and the Montreal Cognitive Assessment ). A semi-structure interview was also conducted with participants, and a qualitative data analysis was carried out and findings integrated with the quantitative results.

Stroke survivors reported greater disability and reduced health related quality of life across all measures, and they also demonstrated higher rates of anxiety and depression. In addition, they showed higher levels of cognitive impairment. Findings from the qualitative interview revealed that stroke survivor participated in fewer activities both inside and outside the home, and activities were less physically demanding. The results obtained from this study demonstrated the long term effects of stroke present challenges for stroke survivors which impact on their HRQoL, significantly more than difficulties experienced from the ageing process. Finally, the MoCA is more sensitive and detecting cognitive impairment in both a stroke and non-stroke population. Implications of the research are discussed.