Quality of Life of Stroke Patients at One Year after Discharge from Inpatient Rehabilitation: A Multicenter Study

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the quality of life (QoL) and factors significantly associated with QoL of stroke patients at 1 year after discharge from post-stroke inpatient rehabilitation. Materials and Methods: This study included patients from 9 rehabilitation centers. QoL of stroke patients was evaluated using the World Health Organization Quality of Life Instrument - Brief Version. Patient QoL scores at the 1-year follow-up were compared with those recorded at discharge from inpatient rehabilitation. Factors related to QoL at one year after discharge were identified using univariate analysis and multiple linear regression. Results: One hundred and ninety-seven patients were recruited with a mean age of 63.3±12.4 years. Of the 197 patients that were recruited, 21 (10.7%) were readmitted during the 1-year post-discharge period. Of those, there were 16 single readmissions, and 5 double readmissions. The mean QoL score at one year after discharge was significantly lower than the score at discharge. Multiple linear regression analysis revealed 5 factors as being independently associated with QoL, including having a leisure activity, modified Barthel (Activity of Daily Living, ADL) Index (mBI) at the 1-year follow-up, needing a caregiver, anxiety score, and depression score with regression coefficients of 6.42 (95% CI: 2.32, 10.51), 0.64 (95% CI: 0.07, 1.21), -7.88 (95% CI: -12.25, -3.52), -0.79 (95% CI: -1.41, -0.18), and -1.14 (95% CI: -1.71, -0.56), respectively. Conclusion: At one year after discharge from inpatient rehabilitation, stroke patients had poorer QoL, and five factors were found to be associated with post-discharge QoL. Strategies to enhance post-discharge QoL are urgently needed.