Article

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the
relation between poststroke fatigue and short-term health-related quality of life
(HRQOL) in Chinese patients with first or recurrent stroke. DESIGN:
Cross-sectional survey. SETTING: Acute stroke unit of a general hospital.
A total of 458 patients with acute ischemic stroke admitted to the
acute stroke unit of a university-affiliated regional hospital in Hong Kong.
INTERVENTIONS: Not applicable. HRQOL was assessed with the
Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36) at 3 months after
the subjects' index stroke. Fatigue was evaluated by using the Fatigue Severity
Scale (FSS). The correlation between the FSS and SF-36 scores was examined and
adjusted for potential confounders, including age, sex, marital status, previous
stroke, social support, global cognitive functions, neurologic deficits, and
depressive symptoms. RESULTS: Univariate analysis revealed that fatigue was a
significant correlate of all SF-36 domain scores. The magnitude of correlation
was highest for the vitality domain (r=-.605, Bonferroni corrected P<.05) and
lowest for the physical functioning domain (r=-.202, Bonferroni corrected P<.05).
Canonic correlation analysis indicated that FSS was strongly related to the HRQOL
with a loading of -.678. Increasing fatigue was associated with a lower HRQOL.
The association between FSS and HRQOL remained significant in the subsequent
multivariate regression analysis, having adjusted for possible confounders.
CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that fatigue has an impact on short-term
HRQOL in Chinese stroke patients. The early identification and treatment of
fatigue may improve HRQOL of stroke patients.
CI - Copyright (c) 2010 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Published by
Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Langue : ANGLAIS