Quality of life of Nigerian stroke survivors during first 12 months post-stroke

There have been few studies on quality of life (QoL) of Nigerian stroke survivors and none have reported QoL over a long period. This study describes QoL in Nigerian stroke survivors over the first 12 months post-stroke. Sixty-five (33 male and 32 female) stroke survivors were recruited within 72 hours of stroke onset. QoL and depression were assessed monthly for 12 months using the Stroke-Specific Quality of Life Scale and Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale. Data were analysed using the KruskaleWallis test, Friedman test and logistic regression. Fifty-five participants (aged 57.4 ± 14.8 years) completed this study. QoL improved significantly from onset to 6 months but nonsignificantly from 6 months to 12 months. Most (85.2%) stroke survivors had severe depression at 1 month. At 3 months, marital status and spousal support had a significant positive influence on QoL. At 6, 9 and 12 months, marital status, spousal support, educational qualification, and occupational status had a significant positive influence on QoL. Depression was a major determinant of QoL at 3, 6, 9 and 12 months. Our findings suggest that QoL of Nigerian stroke survivors is low at stroke onset, increases steadily during the first 6 months and little between 6 months and 12 months post-stroke; is influenced positively by marital status, spousal support, educational qualification and occupational status; and negatively influenced by age and depression.