Acupuncture as a factor of correction of «final points» and improving the quality of life at the stage of rehabilitation of patients with ischemic stroke

Abstract

The study of quality of life indicators for patients who have suffered an ischemic stroke after three years from the onset of the condition, as well as the incidence of recurrent strokes and mortality in the residual period, depending on the rehabilitation methods in the acute period. In order to identify the frequency of recurrent strokes and the mortality rate in the post-stroke period, a three-year prospective observation of 330 patients (220 patients of the main group, whose early rehabilitation was optimized using various methods of reflexotherapy, and 110 patients of the comparison group who underwent traditional pharmacotherapy in combination with physiotherapy and Exercise therapy) was performed. To study the quality of life (using the MOS SF-36 questionnaire), 140 people from the main group and 40 from the comparison group were selected by random sampling. The main group showed a lower incidence of recurrent stroke episodes (3.2%) and mortality (1.8%) compared with the comparison group (12.7 and 13.6%, respectively). Comparison of quality of life indicators in the studied groups revealed higher values for all subscales of the MOS SF-36 questionnaire in the group of patients who received reflexotherapy in the acute period of ischemic stroke, and for several subscales, the differences were statistically significant: in the acute period, by subscales RP (p<0.05), GH (p<0.05), VT (p<0.05), SF (p<0.05), RE (p<0.05), MH (p<0.05), after three years - by subscales PF (p<0.05), GH (p<0.05), VT (p<0.01) and MH (p<0.05). Thus, optimization of early rehabilitation by including from the first days reflexotherapy methods helps to improve the indicators of both the physical and mental components of the patients' health not only in the acute but also in the long term, and also helps to reduce the frequency of repeated strokes and the mortality rate in the post-stroke period.