The stroke impact scale: performance as a quality of life measure in a community-based stroke rehabilitation setting

Abstract

Purpose: The objective of this study was to assess the psychometric properties of the Stroke Impact Scale (SIS). Methods: Data was derived from a study assessing a community-based stroke rehabilitation program. Patients were administered the SIS and Euroqol-5D (EQ-5D-5L) on admission to the study, and at six month and 12 month follow-up. The psychometric performance of each domain of the SIS was assessed at each time point. Results: A total of 164 patients completed outcome measures at baseline, 108 patients at six months and 37 patients at 12 months. Correlation of the SIS domains with the EQ-5D-5L suggested that the dimensions of health contributing to a patient’s perception of health-related quality of life changes over time. Conclusion: The SIS performed well in a sample of patients undergoing stroke rehabilitation in the community. Our findings suggest that the multidimensionality of the SIS may allow health professionals to track patient progress and tailor rehabilitation interventions to target the dimensions of health that are most important to a patient’s overall health and perceived quality of life over time.

Implications for Rehabilitation

• There is an increased need for valid and reliable measures to evaluate the outcomes of patients recovering from stroke in the community.

• The Stroke Impact Scale (SIS) measures multiple domains of health and is well-suited for use in patients recovering from stroke in the community.

• There is a high level of internal consistency in the eight SIS domains with no evidence of floor effects; ceiling effects were noted for several domains.

• Correlation of the SIS with the Euroqol-5D suggested that the dimensions of health contributing to a patient’s perception of health related quality of life changes over time.

Keywords:

• Community-based rehabilitation
• Euroqol-5D
• psychometric properties
• quality of life
• stroke
• stroke impact scale

Acknowledgements

We would like to acknowledge the Southwestern Ontario Community Stroke Rehabilitation Teams for their support. In particular, David Ure and Karen Heys were critical for making this study possible.

Declaration of interest

The authors report no conflicts of interest.

This study has been funded by Ontario Stroke Network.