And you had to do a study on this? My god, the stupidity. The one and only stressor, if you are that blitheringly stupid, is there are NO 100% RECOVERY PROTOCOLS!
A qualitative study of stressors faced by older stroke patients in a convalescent rehabilitation hospital
- Yuta Asada,
- Kaori Nishio,
- Kohei Iitsuka,
- Jun Yaeda
- Published: August 26, 2024
- https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0309457
Abstract
This study aimed to explore the stressors experienced by older patients with stroke in convalescent rehabilitation wards in Japan. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with four stroke patients aged > 65 years who experienced a stroke for the first time in their lives. The interviews were analyzed using the Steps for Coding and Theorization method for qualitative data analysis. The results of the qualitative analysis demonstrated that patients experienced specific stressors, such as, difficulty in movement of the paralyzed hand, fear of stroke recurrence, and dietary problems. Some stressors were manageable through healthcare professionals’ active and sensitive communication strategies. These stressors were derived from the theoretical framework of “stressors related to hospitalization” and “stressors related to the illness”. Additional stressors emerged from the interaction between these two types within the theoretical framework. The results of this study contribute to a deeper understanding of the specific stressors experienced by older stroke patients during the recovery process.
Citation: Asada Y, Nishio K, Iitsuka K, Yaeda J (2024) A qualitative study of stressors faced by older stroke patients in a convalescent rehabilitation hospital. PLoS ONE 19(8): e0309457. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0309457
Editor: Chinh Quoc Luong, Bach Mai Hospital, VIET NAM
Received: February 24, 2024; Accepted: August 13, 2024; Published: August 26, 2024
Copyright: © 2024 Asada et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Data Availability: All relevant data are within the manuscript and its Supporting Information files.
Funding: The author(s) received no specific funding for this work.
Competing interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
Introduction
Stress is a nonspecific response of the body to external stimuli [1]. Stress varies as the stressors faced by individuals differ depending on their age, sex, and social role [2]. Stressors include physical, biological, chemical, psychological, and social factors. The accumulation of these stressors causes stress, which, if not adequately addressed, can lead to physical or mental health problems, such as cardiovascular disease and depression, respectively [3]. To prevent these stress-related diseases, it is imperative to identify and address the stressors.
Patients often face various stressors in inpatient settings as their physical and human environments differ significantly from those of their regular home settings [4]. As the length of the hospital stay increases, patients may become particularly vulnerable to stressors such as “concern for family” and “anxiety about financial situation” [4]. The severity of a stroke, the age of the patient, and the presence of underlying medical conditions are factors that tend to extend the duration of hospitalization [5]. The incidence of stroke increases with age and is more common among older adults [6]. Moreover, patients present with a variety of symptoms, such as motor paralysis and higher brain dysfunction, and their ability to perform activities of daily living (ADL) becomes more limited. In particular, convalescent rehabilitation hospitals have a prolonged hospital stay [7] as one of their goals is to help patients return to the community and their homes.
Much of what is known about stressors related to stroke involves the risk of stroke onset [8, 9], and there are insufficient studies on the stressors faced by older stroke patients in hospitals. Clarifying these unspoken stressors can contribute to reducing the stress of hospitalization for older stroke patients during convalescent rehabilitation, meeting their true needs, and enriching their lives after discharge. Few studies have elicited patients’ true feelings regarding stressors in convalescent rehabilitation wards. The purpose of this study is to provide a deeper understanding of the specific stressors experienced by older stroke patients in convalescent rehabilitation wards during their hospital stay.
Materials and methods
We conducted a qualitative study and interviewed each participant separately. The interview transcripts were analyzed according to the “Steps for Coding and Theorization” method (SCAT), a sequential and thematic qualitative data analysis technique [10–12].
This study was conducted in accordance with the Consolidated Criteria for Reporting Qualitative Research (COREQ), a checklist designed to improve the transparency and reliability of qualitative research [13] (S1 Table in S1 File).
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