Impact of physical therapy on quality of life in the caregivers of patients with stroke and aphasia

Abstract

Theoretical background: Stroke is one of the worldwide reasons for the rising costs in a health care area and the leading cause of disability. Stroke complications such as sensorimotor aphasia negatively affect various aspects of quality of life (QoL) of informal caregivers of post-stroke patients. Objective: To research the impact of physical therapy intervention on the QoL of informal caregivers of post-stroke patients with sensorimotor aphasia. Research sample and method: The study involved 62 informal caregivers of post-stroke patients with sensorimotor aphasia. The assessment of the QoL of caregivers was performed using a short questionnaire “The World Health Organization Quality of Life”. Results: After the rehabilitation intervention, statistically significant positive dynamics were observed in the following domains of QoL in caregivers of post-stroke patients with aphasia: “physical health,” “psychological health,” and “environment”. Between the intervention group and the comparison group, there was a statistically significant difference in the domains of physical health and mental health in favour of the intervention group. Conclusions: The use of physical therapy for post-stroke patients with aphasia contributed to a statistically significant improvement in the QoL of their informal caregivers. This suggests that informal caregivers of people with aphasia also benefit from rehabilitation. Furthermore, the application of the developed algorithm of physical therapy for post-stroke patients with aphasia contributed to more significant positive changes in the QoL indicators of their informal caregivers, which indicates the advantages of the developed strategy.