Subjective experiences of occupational performance of activities of daily living in patients with mild stroke.

Aim: To investigate the subjective experiences of occupational performance of activities of daily living (ADL) in patients with mild stroke.

Methodology: Data was generated from January – December 2011 and consisted of 41 individual ADL-I interviews with patients in hospital and another 41 interviews with the same patients 1 month after discharge. The last eight interviews were extended with semi-structured interviews.

Results: The study participants consisted of 16 women and 25 men with a mean age of 69 years. The majority of the participants were independent in the PADL- and IADL-activities included in the ADL-I interviews. However, a minority of participants experienced difficulties in performing normal daily activities without the help of alternative strategies or assistive devices. This resulted in them having to spend more time on these activities, and this increased their fatigue and risk of accidents.

Conclusion: It is important to view the patients with mild stroke as heterogeneous, and consider post-stroke fatigue and emotional reactions when evaluating rehabilitation needs. Therefore, it is important to look further into structured tools, which examine how well the participant performs daily activities and how this is perceived, to understand fully the patient’s rehabilitation needs.