Perceived participation and autonomy: aspects of functioning and contextual factors predicting participation after stroke.

OBJECTIVE To describe perceived participation and autonomy among a sample of persons with stroke in Iran and to identify different aspects of functioning and contextual factors predicting participation after stroke. DESIGN A cross-sectional study. SUBJECTS A total of 102 persons, between 27 and 75 years of age, diagnosed with first-ever stroke. METHODS Participants were assessed for different aspects of functioning, contextual factors and health conditions. Participation was assessed using the Persian version of the Impact on Participation and Autonomy questionnaire. RESULTS This study demonstrated that the majority of the study population perceived their participation and autonomy to be good to fair in the different domains of their participation, but not with respect to the autonomy outdoors domain. In addition, physical function was found to be the most important variable predicting performance-based participation, whereas mood state was the most important variable predicting social-based participation. CONCLUSION The results emphasize the importance of physical function, mood state and access to caregiving services as predictors of participation in everyday life after stroke. Whilst there are two dimensions of participation in this Persian sample of persons with stroke, the factors explaining participation seem to be the same across the cultures.