The Effect of Home-Based Rehabilitation on Adherence to Treatment and Quality of Life of Individuals After Stroke

Background: Since stroke cause chronic and long-term complications and still no pre-discharge rehabilitation program is developed for such patients, home-based rehabilitation is an appropriate caring approach for these patients. Objectives: The present study aimed to explore the effect of home-based rehabilitation on adherence to treatment and quality of life (Qol) of individuals after stroke in 2019. Methods: In this quasi-experimental study 60 stroke patients admitted to the internal medicine and neurology department of hospitals affiliated to the Zahedan University of Medical Sciences, southeast of Iran, during 2019 are studied. Subjects were selected by convenience sampling and then randomized into the intervention and control groups. Data were collected using the Adherence to Treatment Regimen questionnaire and Stroke Specific Quality of Life scale, which were completed in two stages one and three months after the intervention. In the intervention group, rehabilitation training was provided in three 45-minute sessions during the hospital stay. After discharge, the training content was followed at home twice a week for two weeks (four times in total). Data were analyzed in SPSS-22 using repeated measures ANOVA, independent t-test, and chi-squared test at the significance level of P < 0.05. Results: The mean total scores of QoL and adherence to the treatment regimen and its dimensions one and three months after rehabilitation were significantly different in the two groups, with the intervention group scoring higher than the control group (P < 0.001). Repeated measures ANOVA indicated a statistically significant difference between the two groups regarding the effect of time and group on the QoL and adherence to the treatment regimen and its dimensions. In other words, the intervention and time affected the mean QoL and adherence to the treatment regimen, which resulted in a significant difference concerning the time intervals (P < 0.001). Conclusions: This study showed that home-based rehabilitation improves treatment adherence and QoL in stroke patients; therefore, employing this method by nurses to engage the family of patients with chronic diseases in the process of treatment is recommended.