Life Space Assessment in Stroke Patients

Objective To evaluate the reliability of the practical life space in post-stroke patients using the Korean version of the Life-Space Assessment (K-LSA) questionnaire and to assess the relationships between the K-LSA and physical function, daily activity, quality of life, and post-stroke depression. Methods The LSA questionnaire was translated into Korean, and the translated version was authorized by the author of the LSA questionnaire. In a cross-sectional study, the performance of the K-LSA was evaluated in 34 stroke patients (20 males and 14 females; mean age 65.11+/-2.39 years) who were receiving physical and occupational therapy at the outpatient clinic in the rehabilitation medicine department of a university medical center at the time of evaluation. Performances were assessed twice by one examiner at a 2-week interval to test the reliability. The patients were evaluated using the Functional Ambulation Category (FAC) scale, Functional Independence Measure (FIM) scale, and mobility subscale of the FIM to assess their relationships with the K-LSA. They were also evaluated using the EuroQol 5 Dimensions questionnaire (EQ-5D) and Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) to determine the relationship with quality of life and post-stroke depression. Results Test-retest reliability at the first (62.20+/-32.14) and second (63.15+/-32.22) assessment was 0.993 (p<0.01). The K-LSA showed significant correlations with the FAC (r=0.848, p<0.01),FIM (r=0.765, p<0.01), mobility category of the FIM (r=0.764, p< 0.01), GDS (r=-0.657, p< 0.01), and EQ-5D (r=0.506, p< 0.01). Conclusion This study suggests that the practical life space of post-stroke patients, assessed by the K-LSA, has a significant correlation with patients' functional mobility, independence in daily activity, quality of life, and depression.