Impact of central facial palsy and dysarthria on quality of life in patients with stroke: The KOSCO study.

BACKGROUND

There are a few reports on the impact of central facial palsy and dysarthria on quality of life (QOL) in stroke patients.

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the impact of central facial palsy on QOL compared with dysarthria during the chronic phase in patients with first-ever strokes.

METHODS

This study represents an interim analysis of the Korean Stroke Cohort for Functioning and Rehabilitation study. We selected data from patients with functional independence of 0 or 1 by the modified Rankin Scale at 6 months after stroke onset, who showed an impairment only in National Institute of Health Stroke Scale items 4 (facial palsy) or 10 (dysarthria). Assessments included the European Quality of Life-5 Dimensions (EQ-5D) and the Geriatric depression scale-short form (GDS-SF).

RESULTS

Data from 149 patients were selected for this analysis from 3,929 patients who were followed up at 6 months. Thirty-nine and 110 patients were classified into the facial palsy and dysarthria groups, respectively. The groups did not differ significantly in baseline characteristics or functional assessments. EQ-5D was significantly lower in the facial palsy group than in the dysarthria group at 6 months after stroke (p = 0.036). GDS-SF was significantly higher in the facial palsy group than in the dysarthria group (p = 0.005).

CONCLUSIONS

The results of this study revealed that central facial palsy clearly has a more negative impact on QOL than dysarthria in chronic stroke patients with functional independence.