Measurement of quality of life in stroke patients

Daina Krančiukaitė¹, Daiva Rastenytė^{1, 2}

¹Institute of Cardiology, ²Department of Neurology, Kaunas University of Medicine, Lithuania

Key words: quality of life; stroke; measurement.

Summary. The quality of life after stroke and the methods of measuring this aspect of the disease have been viewed with a growing interest. The measurement has been focused on the physical, psychological, social, and functional aspects of living and is generally based on the patients’ subjective perception of his/her general health and well-being. Seven generic measurement scales and three recently developed stroke-specific scales have been assessed and discussed. The stroke-specific quality of life measures described in this review are as follows: the Stroke Adapted Sickness Impact Profile, the Stroke Impact Scale, and the Stroke-Specific Quality of Life Measure. The various factors leading to a deterioration of the quality of life and influencing the quality of life scores are discussed and defined. Moreover, the necessity of further research is stressed.

Correspondence to D. Krančiukaitė, Institute of Cardiology, Kaunas University of Medicine, Sukilėlių 17, 50161 Kaunas, Lithuania. E-mail: daina.kranciukaite@med.kmu.lt

Received 27 April 2006, accepted 13 September 2006