Background: Following stroke, individuals commonly experience persisting loss of function. Whilst long-term care should involve continued support for ongoing stroke sequelae, this is often not routinely practiced globally. The Post Stroke Checklist was designed to standardise the process of detecting persisting treatable problems following stroke.
Aims: This cross-sectional study aimed to identify the long-term problems reported in Australian and Chinese participants at six months post stroke using the Post Stroke Checklist. It also aimed to provide global insight into poststroke sequelae by comparing the study results to previously published studies which administered the Post Stroke Checklist in other countries.
Methods: Participants were recruited from two hospitals in Australia and one hospital in China. The Post Stroke Checklist consists of 11 problem areas commonly experienced after stroke. This study follows a sequence of studies which have applied the checklist to monitor long-term outcomes after stroke in Germany, Italy, Singapore, Sweden and the United Kingdom.
Results: Comparisons between Australia (n = 112) and China (n = 97) demonstrated statistically significant differences on the Post Stroke Checklist items. Across all seven countries, collectively the most common persisting difficulties post-stroke related to: cognition, life after stroke, mood, mobility and activities of daily living. An analysis of means procedure compared individual countries for each checklist item against the overall group mean (all countries combined).
Conclusions: Globally, individuals report persisting functional difficulties following stroke. There appear to be differences in the proportions affected across the various countries, and healthcare systems may benefit from geographically tailoring post-stroke care.
Keywords: Continuity of Patient Care; Health Services Research; Long-Term Care; Needs Assessment; Patient Care; Stroke; Stroke Rehabilitation.
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