The effect of social support on adaptation to the disease in stroke patients

This study was planned to determine the social support provided to individuals with stroke and to examine its effect on their adaptation to the disease. This descriptive and correlational study was conducted with 82 patients admitted to the Stroke Unit, Stroke Rehabilitation and Neurology outpatient clinics and hospitalized in the wards with a stroke diagnosis between May 2022 and March 2023 at Başakşehir Çam Sakura City Hospital. Patient Information Form, Stroke Impact Scale (SIS), Assessment Scale for Adaptation to Chronic Diseases, Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS), Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE), Katz's Activities of Daily Living Scale were used for data collection. Frequency, percentage, mean, t test, Man-Whitney U test, Spearman's correlation analysis were used to analyze the data using SPSS 28 package program. The mean age of stroke survivors was 59.71±12.79 (years), 52.4% were male, 62.2% had had a previous stroke, 91.5% had chronic diseases in addition to stroke and the most common diagnosis was hypertension, 76.8% had weakness, numbness and tingling in the face, arm or leg, especially on one side of the body, and 98.8% were informed about stroke. It was determined that 82.9% of the patients were normal according to the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) and 32.9% were semi-dependent. Scale scores were 55.95±18.67 on the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS), 63.91±8.77 on the Assessment Scale for Adaptation to Chronic Diseases (ASCAAD), and 209.82±44.93 on the Stroke Impact Scale, Katz's Activities of Daily Living Scale was 4.72±1.88 and there was a correlation between the total scores of Assessment Scale for Adaptation to Chronic Diseases and Stroke Impact Scale (SIS) according to the independence status of stroke patients. There was a moderate statistically significant relationship between the mean scores of the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS) and the Assessment Scale for Adaptation to Chronic Diseases, and similarly between the total and psychological sub-dimensions of the Assessment Scale for Adaptation to Chronic Diseases and the mean scores of the Stroke Impact Scale (IES). Further analysis taking semi-dependent/dependent status into account showed that psychological adaptation sub-dimension and stroke were found to be affected. In conclusion, although there was a significant relationship between the level of perceived social support and adjustment to chronic diseases in stroke patients, it was determined that psychological adjustment should be increased without considering only physiological evaluation. In this context, it is recommended that nurses should support individuals with stroke to increase their psychological resilience and coping mechanisms.