Activity, Participation and Quality of Life after Stroke: A 6-month Follow-up of Community-dwelling Nigerian Stroke Survivors

Background Stroke outcomes are best understood through follow-up assessments of the survivors, yet limited longitudinal data exist on stroke survivors in Nigeria. Aims This study therefore assessed the trend of activity, participation and quality of life (QoL) of Nigerian stroke survivors over a period of 6 months post- onset and the relationship among the 3 constructs were explored at the 1st and 6th months post stroke onset. Methods Consecutive stroke survivors were recruited from a tertiary hospital in Nigeria. Activity, participation and QoL of participants were assessed monthly with the Modified Rankin Scale (mRS), London Handicap Scale (LHS) and World Health Organization's WHOQoL-BREF questionnaire respectively monthly for 6 months after stroke onset. Friedman's ANOVA was used to explore the trend of each variable across the study period, while their relationship was computed with the Spearman's correlation coefficient. Results Nine males and 7 females completed the study (mean age; 60.68 + 9.76). Activity and participation of stroke survivors improved progressively over the study period while quality of life displayed an inconsistent pattern of improvements and deteriorations across six months post stroke onset. Activity and participation were also found to correlate poorly with quality of life over the study period. Conclusion It may be important to consider other factors that may positively influence the QoL of stroke survivors since improved activity and participation did not result in improved QoL in this group of people.