Health-Related Quality of Life in Stroke Survivors in Relation to the Type of Inpatient Rehabilitation in Serbia: A Prospective Cohort Study

<i>Background and objectives</i>: Health-related quality of life after stroke is an important public health issue. The objective of the study was to investigate the relationship between the perceived health-related quality of life in stroke survivors in relation to the type of inpatient...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Natasa K. Rancic, Milan N. Mandic, Biljana N. Kocic, Dejan R. Veljkovic, Ilija D. Kocic, Suzana A. Otasevic
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2020-11-01
Series:Medicina
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/1010-660X/56/12/666
Description
Summary:<i>Background and objectives</i>: Health-related quality of life after stroke is an important public health issue. The objective of the study was to investigate the relationship between the perceived health-related quality of life in stroke survivors in relation to the type of inpatient rehabilitation. <i>Materials and Methods</i>: Using a random selection method out of a total of 688 patients, every fourth survivor who had a stroke in the period from 1 January 2017 to 31 December 2019 was selected from the admission protocol of the Clinic for Rehabilitation and Physical Medicine of the Clinical Centre Niš, Serbia. A total of 160 first-ever stroke survivors were included (80 underwent additional inpatient rehabilitation and 80 underwent only inpatient rehabilitation in a tertiary health institution) in a twelve-month prospective study. The EuroQuol-5 Dimension (EQ5D) questionnaire and Stroke Impact Scale were used for the assessment. Multivariate linear regression analysis was done. <i>Results</i>: Multivariate linear regression analysis showed that additional inpatient rehabilitation from six up to eight weeks after discharge was significantly associated with better self-reported health condition by 3.9 times (from 1.9 to 8.2), significantly decreased the ranks of EQ5D by 1.78 times (from 1.02 to 3.11), and showed a higher health-related quality of life. We determined a significant increase of strength, emotions, mobility, and participation role in survivors who underwent additional inpatient rehabilitation compared with those who did not. <i>Conclusions</i>: There was a significant difference in health-related quality of life perceived by stroke survivors who underwent additional hospital rehabilitation in relation to those who underwent only inpatient rehabilitation.
ISSN:1010-660X