Measuring quality of life in stroke survivors

Abstract

Introduction. The number of patients living with the consequences of stroke is increasing worldwide due to the improving stroke care and the modern differentiated treatment options for ischemic stroke — thrombolysis and thrombectomy. Hence, a significant interest has arisen in quality of life (QOL) measurement in post-stroke patients. Objectives. Measuring QOL in stroke survivors can be achieved by using various generic and stroke specific questionnaires. All tools should assess different domains of health such as physical acting, communication, daily activities and others. This article describes the most commonly used scales for measuring post-stroke QOL. Methods. We searched the PubMed electronic databases with the keywords — Quality of life, Stroke, Measuring for the period from January 2000 to May 2020. Results. Various generic and specific scales for quality of life measuring are available. The advantages of the specific scales include high accuracy and detailed information for the assessed domains. The limitations are due to numerous items, long evaluation time and high dependency on patient’s compliance. The generic scales give the ability to compare the QOL in patients with different diseases. The disadvantage is lack of detailed information for the health status in certain disease or condition. Conclusion. Measuring the different aspects of QOL in post-stroke patients is powerful tool in order to focus the further efforts to the most affected domains. A combination between generic and stroke-specific measure might be considered in order to overcome the limitations. The choice of measuring scales must be balanced in the terms of lengthy and repetitive surveys.