Quality of Life among Community-Dwelling Stroke Survivors

Abstract

Background: The prevalence of stroke has been increasing. Post-stroke survivors often have deformities which impact their quality of life. Objective: To examine the relationship between demographic data, ability of daily living, depression, social supports.and quality of life in post-stroke survivors. Methods: A cross-sectional, descriptive correlational design was used in the study. One hundred and three stroke survivors were selected from Saraburi hospital by using purposive sampling technique, and completed Socio-demographic characteristics, Barthel Activity of daily Living index, Thai Geriatric Depression Scale, Social Support Measure, and World Health Organization Quality of Life in Brief version. The overall reliability was 0.93. Data analysis: Data were analyzed by using percentage arithmetic means, standard deviation, Chi-square, and Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation Coefficient. Results: Most of participants were males (56.3%), and married (63.1%), primary school educated (71.8%). Participants were, on average 62.59 years old and 54.01 months post-stroke. Average monthly income was 2231.07 bath. The major symptoms were hemiparesis (100%), imbalance movement (39.8%), aspirate and constipation (20.4%) respectively. Moreover, the majority showed depression at a normal level (65%), were able to perform their daily living activities (75.7%), the mean overall social support score was moderate level (M = 87.35, SD = 19.61), especially material and financial support (M =18.37, SD = 4.32). Regarding the quality of life, most participants perceived their quality of life either overall or individual dimension at a moderate level (M = 78.59, SD = 15.2). Chi-square and Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation Coefficient were conducted to explore the relationships between those variables and quality of life. The results showed that social support, ability of daily living, and educational level were statistically significant positive relationships with the quality of life (r=0.74, p<0.01, r=0.27, p<0.01, r=0.28, p<0.01) respectively. In addition, there was statistically significant negative relationships between length of diagnosis with stroke, depression level and quality of life (r= -0.21, p<0.05, r = -0.23, p<0.05). These results implied that the participants who had received more social support, more independence to perform their daily living, higher education, lower depression level, and shorter periods of stroke diagnosis were more likely to have a better quality of life. Conclusion: This finding will guide health care professionals to strengthen social support for improving quality of life in community- dwelling stroke survivors