Aphasia and predictors of health-related quality of life

Introduction: Assessing aphasics' quality of life is a crucial issue in rehabilitation medicine and health-related quality of life (HRQL) measures are increasingly used to help us to understand the impact of the disease and to plan a treatment. The Spanish version of Stroke and Aphasia Quality of Life-39 Scale (SAQOL-39) is a questionnaire aimed to assess the quality of life of aphasics. This study aimed to evaluate the HRLQ of people with aphasia and the most relevant predictors. Material and Methods: Long-term aphasic patients due to stroke were recruited from the records of the Rehabilitation Service of A Coru a Hospital. Diagnosis was performed by Boston Diagnostic Aphasia Examination. All patients were submitted to the Spanish adaptation of SAQOL-39 involving physical, psychosocial, communication and energy domains. Data analysis was performed by SPSS 16.0. Results: A total of 40 participants agreed to take part. The sample comprised 27 males and 13 females. Mean age was 59.1 years. Most patients were non-fluent aphasics (84.6%). The Spanish SAQOL-39 showed good internal consistency analysis (Cronbach's alpha 0.952). There was good acceptability demonstrated by minimal floor/ceiling effects. The mean score for the full scale was 3.64. Aphasia severity on discharge was significantly related to SAQOL-39 score (Spearman's rho: 0.422, P<0.01). There was also a high significant relation with Depression. Conclusions: The Spanish SAQOL-39 questionnaire is accessible and acceptable to people with aphasia and seems to be suitable for clinical practice. Aphasia severity and the presence of Depression seem to be relevant facts in our aphasic patients' quality of life.