‘Stroke affects more than just the physical’
Anew study looks at what problems affect people most after a stroke and it provides a broader picture than what some may usually expect to see. Stroke affects more than just physical functioning, according to a study published in the March 28, 2018, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
“After a stroke, people who have only mild disability can often have ‘hidden’ problems that can really affect their quality of life,” said study author Irene L. Katzan, MD, MS, of the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio and a member of the American Academy of Neurology. “And for people with more disability, what bothers them the most? Problems with sleep? Depression? Fatigue? Not many studies have asked people how they feel about these problems, and we doctors have often focused just on physical disability or whether they have another stroke.”
The study involved 1,195 people who had an ischemic stroke, or a stroke where blood flow to part of the brain is blocked. photos accurately. Those from high conflict homes who experienced the conflict as a threat were able to accurately identify the happy and angry couples, but not those in neutral poses -- incorrectly reading them as either angry or happy or saying they didn’t know which category they fit.
Schermerhorn sees two possible interpretations of the results.
The inaccuracy may attributable to hyper-vigilance.
“If their perception of conflict and threat leads children to be be They were asked questions about their physical functioning, fatigue, anxiety, sleep problems, thinking skills such as planning and organizing, how much their pain affects other aspects of their life and their satisfaction with their current social roles and activities.
Participants took the questionnaires an average of 100 days after their stroke, and about a quarter of the participants needed help from a family member to fill out the questionnaires. Researchers also measured their level of disability.
The people with stroke had scores that were considerably worse than those in the general population in every area except sleep and depression. Not surprisingly, the area where the people with stroke were most affected was physical functioning, where 63 percent had scores considered meaningfully worse than those of the general population, with an average score of 59, where a score of 50 is considered the population average.
On the question about whether vigilant for signs of trouble, that could lead them to interpret neutral expressions as angry ones or may simply present greater processing challenges,” she said.
Alternatively, it could be that neutral parental interactions may be less significant for children who feel threatened by their parents’ conflict.
“They may be more tuned into angry interactions, which could be a cue for them to retreat to their room, or happy ones, which could signal that their parents they were satisfied with their social roles and activities, 58 percent of people with stroke had scores meaningfully worse than those of the general population.
“People may benefit from social support programs and previous studies have shown a benefit from efforts to improve the social participation of people with stroke, especially exercise programs,” said Katzan.
The thinking skills of people with stroke in executive function, or planning and organizing, were also affected, with 46 percent having scores that were meaningfully worse than the population average.
“The social participation and executive functioning skills are areas that have not received a lot of attention in stroke rehabilitation,” Katzan said. “We need to better understand how these areas affect people’s well-being and determine strategies to help optimize their functioning.”
Limitations of the study include that the questionnaires did not ask about other problems are available to them,” she said. “Neutral interactions don’t offer much information, so they may not value them or learn to recognize them.” Shyness compounds problem The study is also one of the first to measure the impact of temperamental shyness on the children’s ability to process and recognize emotion.
The shy children in the study, who were identified via a questionnaire given to the mothers of the study subjects, were unable to that can occur after stroke, such as communication issues. Also, the study participants had milder strokes on average than people with stroke overall and the average age of participants was 62, which is lower than the average age of 69 for people with stroke overall.