Factors predicting satisfactory home care after stroke

This study prospectively investigated factors predicting optimal poststroke home care. One hundred and thirty-five first occurrence stroke patients and their primary support persons were evaluated during the initial hospitalization after stroke and again one year poststroke. Discriminant function analysis was used to identify two groups from the baseline data: home care situations which were rated optimal and those which were not. Group membership was predicted and validated with 72.6% accuracy. Patients at risk for less than optimal home care had caregivers who were (1) more likely to be depressed, (2) less likely to be married to the patient, (3) below average in knowledge about stroke care, and (4) reporting more family dysfunction. Our findings suggest that caregiver-related problems can have a collective effect on rehabilitation outcome and that treatment should reduce caregiver depression, minimize family dysfunction, and increase the family's knowledge about stroke care.