Motor function recovery and quality of life among stroke survivors in Ibadan, Nigeria. A 6-month follow-up study.
OBJECTIVE
There is paucity of longitudinal studies exploring motor recovery and quality of life (QoL) among Nigerian-African stroke survivors. This study assessed the trend of motor function and QoL as well as relationship between the two constructs among Nigerian stroke survivors over a period of 6 months.


METHODS
Motor function and QoL of 16 (9 males and 7 females) consecutive stroke survivors (60.68+/-9.78 years) recruited from a Nigerian tertiary health facility in Ibadan were assessed within four weeks of stroke onset (baseline) and monthly for five consecutive months using the Modified Motor Assessment Scale (MMAS) and World Health Organization's WHOQoL BREF questionnaire respectively. Friedman's ANOVA was used to study the pattern of each construct across the study period, while relationship between the MMAS and WHOQoLBREF at the first and sixth month post-stroke was computed using Spearman's correlation coefficient at 0.05 alpha.


RESULTS
The MMAS values of the participants increased significantly (P<0.05) particularly in the first three months and between the fifth and sixth month post-stroke. The WHOQoLBREF scores showed inconsistent increase and decrease over the study period; this was however not statistically significant (P>0.05). No significant correlation was observed between MMAS and WHOQoLBREF scores (P>0.05) however, both the psychological and environmental domains of the overall health item of the QoL showed significant correlation (P<0.05) with motor function at the 1st month post-stroke.


CONCLUSIONS
Significant recovery of motor function occurred in the first 3 and between the 5th and 6th months after stroke. There was alternating improvement and decline in the QoL over the study period, this was however not statistically significant. Only the health item of QoL was associated with improved motor function in this sample. The overall implication is that motor function and QoL did not follow the same pattern during the 6 months follow-up.
Hamzat
T K
TK
Department of Physiotherapy, College of Medicine (UCH), University of Ibadan, Nigeria. tkhamzat@comui.edu.ng
Peters
G O
GO
D000704:Analysis of Variance; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009043:Motor Activity; D009549:Nigeria; D011788:Quality of Life; D020127:Recovery of Function; D018434:Sickness Impact Profile; D020521:Stroke / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D000071939:Stroke Rehabilitation