Role of Physical Therapy on Quality of Life and Level of Satisfaction among Patients with Stroke

Background: Stroke can cause disability in people that leads to increase in mortality rate and also affects the general adult population of the society. After having stroke, 80% of the patients become dependent on others for their daily living activities and need physical therapy to minimize their disability. Objective: To evaluate the role of physical therapy on quality of life and satisfaction level among patients with stroke. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 126 patients with stroke after receiving physical therapy treatment. Stroke patients with chronic condition (more than 3 months), both gender, aged between 40-60 years were included. Data was collected through modified questionnaire after taking consent from participants in six months. The SF-36 was used to measure quality of life of stroke patients after six weeks. Using SPSS version 25, frequency and percentages were calculated. Results: Patients receiving physical therapy got recovered from stroke, most of their physical and social needs were fulfilled and they were completely satisfied with their treatment. Their cognitive and intellectual skills were also improved and they were able to fulfil their daily life activities with little dependency. Out of 126 participants, 6(4.8%) strongly agreed that they were too tired to perform activities, 21 (16.7%) moderately agreed, 38(30.2%) neither agree nor disagree, 34(27.0%) moderately disagreed while 27(21.4%) strongly disagreed with it. Most of the patients (69.1%) reported that they were very much satisfied and their quality of life got improved with the physical therapy treatment. Conclusion: Rehabilitation through physical therapy treatment has profound effects on patients having stroke, it helps in reducing disability and improving functional activities. Stroke patients reported improved condition, satisfaction level and quality of life after physical therapy treatment. The quality of life of patients gets improved as 56.3% showed mild disability after treatment.