Adams, Victoria (author)
Durkin, Daniel W. (author)

67th Annual Scientific Meeting of the Gerontological Society of America, Washington D.C., November 2014

2014

Research shows that quality of life for stroke patients who have difficulties with activities of daily living can be improved through treatment. Although there is a significant amount of literature on the effects of stroke on daily function and quality of life, most of the published research is based on Western populations. Very little is known about treatment outcomes in non-Western countries. Using secondary data from the World Health Organization's Study on Global Aging and Adult Health (SAGE) from the Russian Federation we examined the relation between difficulties with activities of daily living (ADL) and quality of life (QOL) in 239 stroke patients when controlling for sex, age, income, and whether or not they had treatment in the last 12 months. Regression analysis revealed that difficulties with ADLs significantly predicted subjective QOL; however, treatment was not significant. Participants with higher ADL difficulty scores reported lower QOL. Income and age were also significant in that higher income and higher age were associated with higher appraisals of quality of life. Results suggest that participants who reported greater difficulty with ADLs appraised their QOL as lower than those with less difficulty, regardless of whether or not they received treatment in the last 12 months. This suggests that treatment in the Russian Federation may not be effective in improving the QOL of stroke patients. Interestingly, participants who were older reported higher QOL. This matches research using socioemotional selectivity theory that suggests that older adults are more likely to focus on the positive.