Leven na een beroerte : een drie jaar durend observatie-onderzoek vanuit de huisartspraktijk, naar de gevolgen van een cerebrovasculair accident

In this study we describe how patients get on with regard to mortality, functional status and quality of life, during the first three years after they suffered a cerebrovascular accident (CVA). In 1990 participating general practitioners (GP's) in Groningen, Friesland and Drenthe reported all patients with stroke, first ever or recurring. At set intervals over a period of three years these patients were visited by a researcher and each time their functional status was assessed using various measuring instruments. One year after stroke two-thirds of the surviving patients were extensively interviewed on the quality of life as they experienced it. The attending GP's and nursing-home physicians supplied us with additional data on the current comorbidity every four months. The first six months of the follow-up have been reported elsewhere. This study concerns the long term, viz. the period of six months to three years after stroke. The initial cohort consisted of 221 stroke patients, 131 female and 90 male, with a mean age of 77 years; at stroke onset 80% of them were living independently.