Background: There is evidence that family support can benefit carers of strok e patients, but not the patients themselves. Objective: To extend the follow up of a single blind randomised controlled trial of family sup...Background: There is evidence that family support can benefit carers of strok e patients, but not the patients themselves. Objective: To extend the follow up of a single blind randomised controlled trial of family support for stroke patie nts and carers to one year to ascertain whether there were any late effects of t he intervention. Methods:The study was a randomised controlled trial. Patients a dmitted to hospital with acute stroke who had a close carer were assigned to rec eive family support or normal care. Families were visited at home by a researche r 12 months after the stroke, and a series of questionnaires was administered to patient and carer. Results: The benefits to carers mostly persisted, though the y were no longer statistically significant because some patients were lost to fo llow up. There was no evidence of any effects on patients. Conclusion: Family su pport is effective for carers, but different approaches need to be considered to alleviate the psychosocial problems of stroke patients.展开更多
文摘Background: There is evidence that family support can benefit carers of strok e patients, but not the patients themselves. Objective: To extend the follow up of a single blind randomised controlled trial of family support for stroke patie nts and carers to one year to ascertain whether there were any late effects of t he intervention. Methods:The study was a randomised controlled trial. Patients a dmitted to hospital with acute stroke who had a close carer were assigned to rec eive family support or normal care. Families were visited at home by a researche r 12 months after the stroke, and a series of questionnaires was administered to patient and carer. Results: The benefits to carers mostly persisted, though the y were no longer statistically significant because some patients were lost to fo llow up. There was no evidence of any effects on patients. Conclusion: Family su pport is effective for carers, but different approaches need to be considered to alleviate the psychosocial problems of stroke patients.
