Determinants of quality of life in the acute stage following stroke.
OBJECTIVE
This study aimed to investigate the factors influence the quality of life (QOL) of survivors of an acute stroke.


METHODS
For 422 stroke patients, assessments were made within two weeks of the index event. QOL was measured using the World Health Organization Quality of Life-Abbreviated form (WHOQOL-BREF), which has four domains related to physical factors, psychological factors, social relationships, and environmental context. Associations of each four WHOQOL-BREF domain score with socio-demographic characteristics (age, sex, education, marital status, religion, and occupation), stroke severity (National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale), physical disability (Barthel Index), cognitive function (Mini-Mental Status Examination: MMSE), grip strength, and psychological distress (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale depression and anxiety subscale: HADS-D and HADS-A) were investigated using the linear regression models.


RESULTS
Higher physical domain scores were independently associated with higher MMSE scores, stronger hand-grip strength, and lower HADS-D and HADS-A scores; higher psychological domain scores were independently associated with higher educational level, higher MMSE scores, and lower HADS-D and HADS-A scores; higher social relationships domain scores were independently associated with lower HADS-D and HADS-A scores; and higher environmental domain scores were independently associated with higher educational level, higher MMSE scores, and lower HADS-D scores.


CONCLUSIONS
Psychological distress and impaired cognitive function were independently associated with lower QOL in patients with acute stroke. However, stroke severity, physical disability and other socio-demographic factors were less significantly associated with QOL. These findings underscore the importance of psychological interventions for improving QOL during the acute phase following stroke.
Department of Psychiatry, Chonnam National University Medical School, Gwangju, Korea.
Bo-Ok
BO
Jeong
Hee-Ju
HJ
Kang
Kyung-Yeol
KY
Bae
Sung-Wan
SW
Kim
Jae-Min
JM
Kim
Il-Seon
IS
Shin
Joon-Tae
JT
Kim
Man-Seok
MS
Park
Ki-Hyun
KH
Cho
Jin-Sang
JS
Yoon