Provision of information, secondary stroke prevention and holistic care for post-transient ischemic attack patients: A scoping review.

Epidemiological evidence suggests that following a Transient Ischemic Attack (TIA), there are residual impairments which threaten quality of life. Despite these consequences, studies addressing post-TIA care remain limited. TIA patients' needs were summarized into 3 domains: Information, Stroke prevention, and Holistic care. Therefore, this scoping review will evaluate the existing reported care programs with the aim of identifying the scope of the care and its adequacy in fulfilling the patients' needs. Based on a question "Do available post-TIA care programs sufficiently cover the needs for information, stroke prevention and holistic care?" and using keywords related to TIA and care, this scoping review was conducted in accordance with an established 5-step framework. Searched databases included Scopus, PubMed, Cochrane Library, and EBSCOhost to retrieve potentially relevant studies. Sixteen studies were selected from 1003 relevant articles published between the years 2014 and 2022. We found that all 16 studies included stroke secondary prevention, involving medical treatment, advice on lifestyle changes and exercises, and counseling to post-TIA patients. However, only 4 studies included education and information sharing about post-TIA impairments, while only one study reported the effects of the care on post-TIA impairment namely fatigue. We found no studies which looked into the care impacts on the patients' overall quality of life. There is a gap in the existing literature regarding holistic care for post-TIA patients, with the management of residual impairments being missed. Further studies targeting a holistic management approach for post-TIA patients are warranted.