Quality of life after stroke : patient’s perspective

Abstract

Stroke in Malta is the second highest rate in Europe and the second most common cause of death locally. Stroke survivors have residual neurological deficits that could persist and affect activities of daily living. Consequently, the quality of life of Maltese stroke survivors may be changed suddenly. This immediately brings the attention to how quality of life may be affected. In Malta, there is the need for greater awareness on stroke and its effects on one’s health and well-being. Quality of life is a multifactorial concept which highly influences the rehabilitation process. The aim of this quantitative study is to explore the relationship between perceived language, physical and psychological abilities and the perceived overall QoL amongst stroke survivors. Twenty stroke survivors participated by filling questionnaires on overall QoL and their language abilities. The findings showed that a poor QoL is evident when a stroke patient experiences speech and language difficulties. This could be highly related to limited communication abilities that impact one’s socialisation and independence. QoL is highly affected due to psychosocial reasons like changed personality and social roles. Impaired physical abilities are also associated with lower QoL. Limited physical abilities impact activities of daily living, which could be triggered by fatigue and hemiparesis. The QoL after stroke seemed to be influenced by demographic variables like age and gender. According to this research, males experience a higher QoL when compared to females. Younger stroke patients seemed to experience a higher QoL. This information was expected since typically ageing individuals are more likely to experience health issues which hinder their QoL.