Impact of stroke on health-related quality of life in diverse cultures: the Berlin-Ibadan multicenter international study

BACKGROUND Various studies have reported discordant profiles of health-related quality of life (HRQOL) after stroke. The aims of this study, the first of its kind, were to determine the real impact of stroke on HRQOL across diverse cultures; and to compare HRQOL between stroke patients and healthy adults, and across stroke severity strata. METHODS 100 stroke patients and 100 apparently healthy adults (AHAs) in Nigeria; as well as 103 stroke and 50 AHAs in Germany participated. Stroke severity was measured using the National Institute of Health Stroke Scale, Stroke Levity Scale and modified Rankin scale. HRQOL was evaluated using the HRQOL In Stroke Patients (HRQOLISP) measure, a holistic multiculturally-validated measure with seven therapeutically-relevant domains distributed into two spheres. RESULTS Domains within the spiritual sphere were considered more important by stroke patients. In both countries, stroke patients significantly (0.00001 < p < 0.004) had worse HRQOL than AHAs in all domains within the physical sphere. This was not so for the spiritual sphere. Consistently, stroke severity correlated significantly with all domains in the physical sphere unlike the spiritual sphere. In diverse cultures, the correlation coefficients between HRQOL and all indices of stroke severity revealed a decremental trend from the physical domain (rho = 0.77, p < 0.00001) to the spiritual domain (rho = 0.01, p = 0.893). CONCLUSIONS Consistently, stroke elicited a decremental response across domains, with domains in the spiritual sphere being relatively stroke-resilient. The potential utility of the relatively preserved spiritual sphere in facilitating stroke rehabilitation requires evaluation in diverse cultures.