Quality of life after stroke in old age: comparison of persons living in nursing home and those living in their own home.

AIM: To determine the differences in subjective quality of life between elderly people living in a nursing home and those living in their own homes after brain stroke, and to determine the contribution of demographic variables and different quality of life domains to the explanation of self-assessed quality of life.
METHODS: The study included 60 elderly men and women, 30 living in their own homes (median age, 81; range, 72-90) and 30 living in a nursing home (median age, 81; range, 72-86). Both groups received care (stationary or ambulatory) from the same nursing home. World Health Organization Quality of Life Questionnaire-short version, self-assessed quality of life questionnaire, and demographic questionnaire were used to collect data on subjective quality of life. The participants completed self-report questionnaires individually.
RESULTS: Quality of life scores were significantly higher in the elderly living in a nursing home than in the elderly living in their own home (mean +/- standard deviation, 78.7 +/- 12.8 vs 59.3 +/- 17.3 out of maximum 100, P < 0.001). Also, the elderly living in the nursing home scored significantly higher than those living in their own home on all 4 quality of life domains (maximum 100 for each domain): physical (28.5 +/- 3.3 vs 17.2 +/- 5.0), psychological (22.3 +/- 3.7 vs 16.3 +/- 5.0), social relationships (11.4 +/- 1.6 vs 8.3 +/- 1.7), and environment (32.8 +/- 4.6 vs 24.0 +/- 6.1) domain (P < 0.001 for all). All predictive variables together explained 51.9% of quality of life variance, with self-assessed health being the most significant predictor.
CONCLUSION: Quality of life of the elderly in a nursing home was significantly higher than that of their peers living in their own home, which may be related to better care in specially organized settings.