Health-related quality of life of patients after ischaemic stroke treated in a provincial hospital in Poland.

Background: Ischaemic stroke (IS) is a major cause of death and disability and affects the quality of life of patients. Previous studies focused on urban populations.

Objective: To evaluate the health-related quality of life (QoL) of patients with history of IS and living in a rural area in Poland.

Patients: Rural population of 172 patients discharged from a district hospital in Zakopane, Poland with a diagnosis of IS in the period from 01.01.2005 to 31.10.2006.

Intervention: QoL was evaluated using the European Quality of Life Scale-5 Dimensions EQ-5D-3 L (EQ-5D) and the Short Form Health Survey - 12 version 2 (SF-12).

Results: In the EQ-5D survey, 57.3% of patients had only some problems with mobility, 40.3% with usual activities, 63.2% with pain/discomfort, 59% with anxiety/depression, and 32.2% with self-care. In the SF-12 survey, both summary components (physical and psychological) were reduced compared to the population norm.

Conclusion: The quality of life in IS survivors is clearly reduced in the majority of domains assessed by the EQ-5D and SF-12 questionnaires. The most important factors affecting QoL were the functional state, depression and anxiety. A significant difference as compared to to urban and mixed populations was observed for a reduced SF-12 mental health component and for the EQ-5D visual analogue scale. We found no effect of gender, age or cognitive disorders on the outcomes of SF-12.