"Relationship of Physical Disability and Psychological Status in Stroke Survivors"

Stroke is a leading cause of death and disability globally. Stroke affects the physical status of stroke survivors and leads to muscle weakness, musculoskeletal deformities, disabilities and dependency in functional activities. Paralysis is one of the most common disturbances resulting from stroke. Stroke also affects the psychological status in chronic patients. The psychological problems faced by stroke survivors are emotional instability and post-stroke depression. The purpose of the study was to examine the relationship between physical disability and psychological status in stroke survivors. Methods: Participants for this study were 50 stroke survivors, selected from the 7 towns of Amritsar district. 22 males and 28 females were recruited for this study. The patients are categorized into three categories: mild, moderate and severe according to their level of severity. Various standardized tools used to measure the physical disability in stroke survivors were: Barthel index, Functional independence measure(FIM), Structured questionnaire and WHO disability schedule. Psychological status was assessed using Emotional stability scale by Psy-Com and Beck’s depression inventory. The mean scores were calculated and correlation between physical and psychological status of the three categories of stroke survivors were calculated using Pearson’s correlation method. The correlation of musculoskeletal deformities, physical disability, degree of dependency and functional abilities with psychological status of cognition, emotional stability and post-stroke depression was calculated. Results and analysis: The results of the study depicted that emotional stability in mild group of patients demonstrated a significant relationship with physical disability and dependency in both males, females and in urban patients (r=0.545, p<0.05; r=0.642, p<0.01; r=0.492, p<0.05 and r=0.485, p<0.05; r=0.610, p<0.01; r=0.712, p<0.01). The moderate group also observed a significant relationship with physical disability, dependency and functional abilities (r=0.470, r=0.498 and r=0.552, p<0.05). Whereas in severe group, a significant relationship existed with physical disability, dependency and functional abilities (r=0.614, r=0.615and r=0.618, p<0.05). Post-stroke depression showed a significant relationship with dependency and functional abilities in mild group of stroke survivors (r=0.528 and r=0.516, p<0.05) and with physical disability in females and urban patients (r=0.543 and r=0.524, p<0.05).