Health-Related Quality of Life in Patients Poststroke: Dapsone versus Placebo

Abstract

Background: Stroke is the second leading cause of death in the world and the main cause of long-term disability in Western countries. Evaluating health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in patients who have survived a stroke provides a more complete picture of the effects of different interventions in a patient's condition. Dapsone has been shown to have neuroprotective effects during the acute phase of stroke. Objective: To evaluate HRQOL in patients who received dapsone versus placebo after stroke. Methods: This was an observational pilot study of 21 patients who randomly received dapsone or placebo during the acute phase of a stroke. HRQOL was evaluated with the Stroke-Specific Quality of Life (SSQOL) questionnaire 6 months after the stroke. Results: There was no significant difference in the total SSQOL score 6 months after a stroke between patients who received dapsone or placebo (3.41 vs 3.19; p = 0.434). Patients who received dapsone had higher mean values for 9 of the 12 domains of the SSQOL than patients who received placebo. However, the difference was not statistically significant. The highest score for the patients who received dapsone was in the self-care domain. Overall SSQOL scores were lower in women than in men (p < 0.01). Conclusion: SSQOL was slightly better for patients who received dapsone, showing a possible improvement in their functional level. More prospective, randomized, and placebo-controlled studies with a larger number of patients are needed to confirm these results.