General and Specific Quality of Life Course of Individuals with Different Levels of Stroke Severity: A One-Year Prospective Longitudinal Study

• Published in: Clinical gerontologist Vol. 47; no. 5; pp. 1008 - 1020
• Main Authors: Braga, Marcela Aline Fernandes, Faria-Fortini, Iza, de Menezes, Kênia Kiefer Parreiras, Santos, Jéssica Melo, Rodrigues, Nathália Aparecida Gravito, de Moura Silva, Edvânia Andrade, de Morais Faria, Christina Danielli Coelho
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Routledge 19.10.2024; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: Course; First year; Health status; Health surveys; health-related quality of life; Hospitalization; Life course; Longitudinal studies; Measures; Quality of life; Severity; Stroke; Variance analysis; severity; health-related quality of life; Course; stroke
• DOI: 10.1080/07317115.2024.2366833
• ISSN: 0731-7115; 1545-2301

To compare the course of generic and specific health-related quality of life (HRQOL) of individuals with stroke, and its physical, mental, and social domains, at three, six, and 12 months after hospital discharge, considering the levels of stroke severity. This is a longitudinal study, in stroke individuals, assessed during hospital admission by the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS), and divided into mild (NIHSS ≤3) or moderate/severe (NIHSS ≥4) disease. At three, six, and 12 months after hospital discharge, the individuals were assessed for generic (Short Form Health Survey-36: total score and physical and mental domains) and specific (Stroke Specific Quality of Life Scale: total score and social domain) HRQOL. A 2 × 2 repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) with post-hoc was applied. 146, 122, and 103 individuals were assessed at three, six and 12 months, respectively HRQOL courses showed different behaviors according to stroke severity (3.37≤F ≤ 4.62; 0.010≤p ≤ .036). Individuals with mild stroke showed significant changes in the physical domain, with a reduction between three and six months, and an increase between six and 12. Moderate/severe individuals showed a significant increase in all HRQOL variables between three and six months, and a maintenance of values for almost all variables, except for physical domain, which improved significantly between three and six months, and got significantly worse between six and 12. HRQOL during the first year after stroke showed distinct trajectories, being stroke severity an important factor in identifying stroke subjects at risk of HRQOL decline. These results demonstrate the importance of considering not only the phase of the stroke, the severity, and the general and specific HRQOL, but also the physical, social, and mainly the mental domain, which has long been neglected, when assessing this population.