Determinants of quality of life (QoL) in elderly stroke patients: a short-term follow-up study.

The aim of this study was to determine the quality of life (QoL) at the third month after stroke and to identify the factors related with and determinants of QoL in geriatric stroke patients. Eighty of 122 patients who were assessed within the first week after stroke were reevaluated at the third month. Patients were divided into two groups as those of ≥65 years old (geriatric group) and those of <65 years old (non-geriatric group). The stroke severity, functional status, and ambulation level were assessed by the Canadian neurological scale (CNS), the functional independence measure (FIM), and the functional ambulation classification scale (FACS) within the first week of stroke, respectively. Depression and QoL levels were also determined at the third month using the Zung self-rating depression scale (ZDS) and both the Short Form-36 (SF-36) survey and the stroke-specific quality of life (SSQoL) scale, respectively. The QoL of 80 patients according to the SF-36 were lower than those of general population. No significant difference was found in stroke severity, functional status at baseline and third month, depression and QoL between geriatric and non-geriatric patients (p>0.05). The most influenced subscale of QoL was work/productivity in geriatric patients, and the main determinant of QoL was the functional status during the assessment. Stroke patients had an impaired QoL, and geriatric patients did not demonstrate a difference in terms of QoL compared to non-geriatric patients. The fact that the main determinant of QoL was functional status has been suggested that improving of physical function may be helpful to provide a better QoL for stroke patients.