Factors associated with life satisfaction in Japanese stroke outpatients

Purpose. To measure life satisfaction in Japanese stroke outpatients and randomly-sampled community residents and to investigate variables influencing their life satisfaction. Method. Data on the demographic and clinical profiles, Satisfaction in Daily Life (SDL), other measurements, were obtained from 869 stroke outpatients (552 males, 317 females) and 748 community-dwelling elderly (360 males, 388 females), aged 55 years and older. Differences in categorical variables and continuous variables were tested by chi-square test and ANCOVA with age as the covariate, respectively. Results. The 11 SDL items were subjected to a factor analysis, which extracted two factors. Factor 1 (F1), labeled as 'satisfaction with one's own abilities', included satisfaction with housework, self-care, gait, physical health, hobby and leisure, social intercourse and mental health. Factor 2 (F2), 'satisfaction with external factors', included satisfaction with partner/family relationship, economic state and social security, and house facilities. Both F1 and F2 scores were significantly lower for stroke outpatients (M = 19.7 and 10.9, respectively) than for community-dwelling elderly (M = 28.2 and 12.0, respectively) (p < 0.001). Living conditions were significantly associated with F2, but not with F1. Males living alone scored lowest on F2 than the others for both groups. Among stroke outpatients, both F1 and F2 scores differed significantly by the type of hemiparesis and the severity of aphasia. Conclusions. SDL of stroke outpatients, which was lower than community-dwelling elderly, differed by the type of hemiparesis, the severity of aphasia, and living conditions. The effects of living conditions might vary with gender.