Quality of life in stroke patients.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the quality of life and its relationship with socio-demographic and medical factors in patients with stroke.


METHODS
Seventy patients with stroke seen in the neurology clinic on a follow-up visit; at least a period of 3 months of follow-up was included.


METHODS
Data were collected using (a) a questionnaire to determine patients' socio-demographic factors, (b) Short Form-36 (SF-36) and (c) Perceived Social Support from the Family Scale.


RESULTS
The mean score of global quality of life in patients was 37.08±17.03, and the mean score on Perceived Social Support from the Family Scale was 11.21±7.12. The mean score of global quality of life varied significantly according to age, gender, education, profession, place of residence, comorbidities, affected brain area, disease duration and educational level of the caregiver.


CONCLUSIONS
These results showed a low mean quality-of-life score in patients with stroke. There is a positive and significant correlation between scores on the Perceived Social Support from the Family Scale and various aspects of quality of life, such as functional status, well-being, general health perception and global quality of life.
Department of Internal Medicine Nursing, School of Nursing, Atatürk University, Erzurum, Turkey.
Nuray
N
Dayapoglu
Mehtap
M
Tan
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011788:Quality of Life; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012944:Social Support; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D020521:Stroke / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires