Korean J Rehabil Nurs.  1998 Dec;1(1):111-123.

Related Factors of the Quality of Life in Stroke Patients

• Hong YS
• Suh MJ
• Kim KS
• Kim I
• Cho NO
• Choi HL
• Jung SH
• Kim EM

Abstract

The related factors of the quality of life (QOL) in stroke patients was identified empirically. The subjects were 254 stroke patients who were discharged and taken follow-up care at the outpatient department. In this model, the physical, psychological, and social status were assumed to affect the QOL. And the social support was assumed to moderate these effects. NIH stroke state, ADL, and IADL were used to measure the physical status. Using CES-D, the psychological status was measured. The social status was defined as the job change after stroke attack. The satisfaction with the care by primary caregivers, significant others, and health professionals was measured as the social support. To identify the effect of the physical, psychological, and social status on the QOL, multiple regression analysis was carried out. The psychological and social status were found to be the significant predictors of the QOL(R2=0.27, p=0.00). Next, to identify the moderating effect of the social support, the subjects were divided into two groups, that is, the low social support group and the high social support group. It is found that the predicting variance is different between these two groups. In the low social support group, the psychological, social, and physical status predicted as much as 42% of the QOL. On the contrary, the psychological status predicted only 8% of the QOL in the high social support group. So it is concluded that the social support moderates the effects of the physical, psychological, and social status on QOL. Finally, to identify the social support which moderates those effects, the social support was divided into three classes. Each social support class was divided into the low and high social support group again. In the every class of social support, the difference between two groups was also identified. So the model of the QOL is recommended for the framework of the care for the stroke patients. Also these results support the claim that the long-term facilities for stroke patients are necessary.

MeSH Terms

Activities of Daily Living
Caregivers
Follow-Up Studies
Health Occupations
Humans
Outpatients
Quality of Life*
Self-Help Groups
Stroke*