Depression and balance in individuals with stroke and its relation to health-related quality of life

Abstract

Introduction: Health-related quality of life (HRQOL) has been emphasized as an important indicator of stroke and therefore increasingly used in order to provide a description under different aspects of stroke recovery. Objective: The aim of this study was to examine the quality of life related to health (HRQOL) from the application of Stroke Impact Questionnaire (SIS 3.0), and examine its relationship with depressive symptoms and postural balance in adults with motor sequelae stroke. Methods: Thirty-three subjects were evaluated through the SIS 3.0, the Berg Balance Scale (BBS) and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). The association between BBS and the BDI and the areas of SIS was analyzed using Spearman's correlation coefficient. Results: The most affected domains were the HRQOL: strength, emotion, hand function, social participation and the physical domain. There was a positive correlation between scores on the BSE and domain strength (гho = 0.48, p = 0.005) and physical domain (гho = 0.42, p = 0.015) of the SIS. The BDI was negatively correlated with the areas emotion (гho = -0.59, p <0.01), communication (гho = -0.46, p = 0.007), ADL / IADL (гho = -0.39, p = 0.03) and social participation (гho = -0.52, p = 0.002). Conclusion: Depressive symptoms and deficits in the balance are related to the quality of life related to health after stroke and, therefore, should be taken into account during the rehabilitation process.