Division of General Practice, School of Medicine, University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, Perth, WA, 6009, Australia.
Department of Public Health and Primary Care, University of Cambridge, Strangeways Laboratory, 2 Worts Causeway, Cambridge, CB1 8RN, UK.
BMC Geriatr. 2018 Apr 2;18(1):81. doi: 10.1186/s12877-018-0765-8.
Self-rated health predicts health outcomes independently of levels of disability or mood. Little is known about what influences the subjective health experience of stroke survivors. Our aim was to investigate stroke survivors' perceptions of self-rated health, with the intention of informing the design of interventions that may improve their subjective health experience.
We conducted semi-structured interviews with a purposive sample of 28 stroke survivors recruited from a stroke unit and follow-up outpatient clinic, 4-6 months after stroke, to explore what factors are perceived to be part of self-rated health in the early stages of recovery. Qualitative data were analysed using a thematic analysis approach to identify underlying themes.
Participants' accounts show that stroke survivors' perceptions of self-rated health are multifactorial, comprising physical, psychological and social components. Views on future recovery after stroke play a role in present health experience and are shaped by psychosocial resources that are influenced by past experiences of ill-health, dispositional outlook such as degree of optimism, a sense of control and views on ageing.
Severity of physical limitations alone does not influence perceptions of self-rated health among stroke survivors. Self-rated health in stroke survivors is a multidimensional construct shaped by changes in health status occurring after the stroke, individual characteristics and social context. Understanding the factors stroke survivors themselves associate with better health will inform the development of effective approaches to improve rehabilitation and recovery after stroke.
自我评估的健康状况可以独立于残疾或情绪水平预测健康结果。对于影响中风幸存者主观健康体验的因素知之甚少。我们的目的是调查中风幸存者对自我评估健康的看法，旨在为可能改善他们主观健康体验的干预措施的设计提供信息。
我们对 28 名中风幸存者进行了半结构化访谈，这些幸存者是从中风病房和随访门诊中选择的，在中风后 4-6 个月进行，以探讨在康复早期哪些因素被认为是自我评估健康的一部分。使用主题分析方法对定性数据进行分析，以确定潜在主题。
参与者的描述表明，中风幸存者对自我评估健康的看法是多方面的，包括身体、心理和社会成分。对中风后未来恢复的看法会影响当前的健康体验，并受到心理社会资源的影响，这些资源受到过去健康状况不佳的经历、性格倾向（如乐观程度）、控制感和对衰老的看法的影响。
身体限制的严重程度本身并不能影响中风幸存者对自我评估健康的看法。中风幸存者的自我评估健康是一个多维结构，由中风后健康状况的变化、个体特征和社会环境共同塑造。了解中风幸存者自身与更好健康相关的因素将为改善中风后康复和恢复的有效方法的发展提供信息。
