Not as transient: patients with transient ischaemic attack or minor stroke experience cognitive and communication problems; an exploratory study

Figures & data

Table I. Patient characteristics of the three patient groups: transient ischaemic attack/minor stroke, stroke and angina pectoris.

	TIA^a/minor stroke	Stroke	Angina pectoris
Number of patients	55^b	62	72
Mean age, years (SD)	68 (9.8)	73 (10.0)	73 (9.9)
Male gender (n/%)	35/64%	32/52%	36/50%
Health care service (n)
Outpatient clinic	49	–	70
Emergency room	6	–	2
Hospitalization/inpatient rehabilitation	–	62	–
Mean time since the event (months)	4.2	2.1	4.9

^aTIA: transient ischaemic attack.

^bTIA: 35 (64%), minor stroke: 20 (36%).

Table II. Questionnaire results: ‘Yes’ responses related to transient ischaemic attack/minor stroke, stroke, or angina pectoris.

Domain	TIA^a/minor stroke (1) n = 55 n (%)	Stroke (2) n = 62 n (%)	Angina pectoris (3) n = 72 n (%)	Significance test
				1 vs 2 P-value	1 vs 3 P-value
Activities of daily life (ADL)
Do you need help with washing, getting dresses or walking staircases?	4 (7%)	16 (26%)	7 (10%)	0.008	0.627
Instrumental ADL
Do you need help with house keeping activities (such as cleaning, cooking or groceries)?	9 (16%)	39 (63%)	20 (28%)	<0.001	0.129
Hobbies/social activities
Do you have problems relating to hobbies, going out or visiting people?	19 (35%)	29 (47%)	19 (26%)	0.156	0.320
Daily schedule
Do you have difficulties to find daily activities to do?	12 (22%)	11 (18%)	22 (31%)	0.641	0.270
Cognition
Do you have daily problems with memory, concentration or performing multiple activities simultaneously?	27 (49%)	30 (48%)	7 (10%)	0.713	<0.001
Communication
Do you have problems with reading, writing, speech or speech comprehension?	23 (42%)	24 (39%)	4 (6%)	0.987	<0.001
Psycho-emotional
Do you feel down, anxious, useless or depressed?	20 (36%)	19 (31%)	17 (24%)	0.687	0.117
Fatigue
Do you often experience severe fatigue?	33 (60%)	49 (79%)	36 (50%)	0.004	0.262
Risk management: smoking/drinking
Do you smoke, drink alcohol, exercise or have overweight?	17 (31%)	12 (19%)	25 (35%)	0.163	0.651
Risk management: check blood pressure/cholesterol
Have your blood pressure and cholesterol levels not been checked regularly?	1 (2%)	24 (39%)	3 (4%)	< 0.001	0.633
Medical condition: sleep/swallow/pain/dizziness
Do you have problems relating to sleeping, swallowing, pain or dizziness?	28 (51%)	31 (50%)	25 (35%)	0.862	0.067
Medical condition: others
Do you have other medical complaints?	13 (24%)	14 (23%)	8 (11%)	0.909	0.060
Relationship relatives
Are there problems in the relationship with close relatives?	3 (5%)	7 (11%)	4 (6%)	0.034	0.980
Intimacy partner
Do you experience intimacy or sexual problems between you and your partner?	7 (13%)	3 (5%)	7 (10%)	0.412	0.592
Information provision
Did you receive insufficient information about consequences of or about services available after the event?	10 (18%)	25 (40%)	12 (17%)	0.003	0.823

^aTIA: transient ischaemic attack

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