Assessment of health-related quality of life in stroke survivors attending two healthcare facilities in Benin City, Nigeria

Abstract

The objective of the study was to assess the quality of life (QoL) of stroke survivors attending two major hospitals in Benin City, Edo State. 78 patients drawn consecutively from two health facilities were used. Data on QoL of the patients were collected using a disease specific quality of life instrument – Newcastle Stroke Specific Quality of Life (NEWSQoL) measure, with some slight modifications. Means of the different subscales were determined, and the impact of the demographic variables on the dimensions was explored using Student’s t-test or one-way ANOVA. In addition, responses on each dimension were transformed into scores ranging from “0” to “100,” with higher scores indicating lower QoL. The demographic profiles of the respondents were: male (63%), married (83%), civil servants (40%), and postsecondary education (50%). Over half (60%) of the respondents were age 50 years and above, and only 42% of them had average monthly income of 30, 000 naira and above. The Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of reliability ranged from 0.57 to 0.92. Quality of life of the different domains on a scale of “0” to “100” showed the highest value for “feeling” domain (50) and lowest value for “vision” domain (18). Socio-demographic variables did not have any impact on several domains of QoL (p>0.05), except on activities of daily living in which women had significantly poorer QoL when compared to men (p<0.05). The study provided evidence that stroke survivors experienced a fairly moderate QoL. In addition, the survey instrument demonstrated a reasonable level of reliability for its routine use in assessment of QoL of stroke survivors in our locality.