Oral health-related quality of life of stroke survivors on discharge from hospital after rehabilitation.

The study aimed to investigate oral health-related quality of life (OHR-QoL) of stroke survivors on hospital discharge after rehabilitation. It was a cross-sectional study involving 43 elderly survivors of mild to moderate stroke about to be discharged from hospital after rehabilitation and a comparison group of 43 community-dwelling elderly people. The Medical Outcomes Short Form 36 (SF-36) measure, the General Oral Health Assessment Index (GOHAI) and an oral health transition scale were administered prior to a dental examination. Median SF-36 subscale scores were significantly different between groups (P < 0.05). In physical function, role-physical, role-emotional and mental health domains, stroke survivors had significantly lower scores indicating poorer health. The median GOHAI score for the stroke group was 52 and 54 for the comparison group with no significant difference between groups although more stroke survivors had difficulty speaking compared with the comparison group. About 75% of stroke survivors considered their appearance to be worse, half of them felt that speech was worse and about a third had difficulty chewing hard food compared with the pre-stroke condition (P < 0.05). Most participants were partially dentate with no significant difference in DMFT scores or prosthetic status between groups (P > 0.05). Health-related quality of life in general was significantly poorer after stroke although patients were considered physically well enough to be discharged from hospital. There was some impairment of OHR-QoL. The nature of the stroke, the hospital environment including diet, coping strategies and elderly Chinese peoples' perception of health should be taken into account when interpreting measures of health status in stroke survivors.