Impact of central facial palsy and dysarthria on quality of life in patients with stroke: The KOSCO study

BACKGROUND: There are a few reports on the impact of central facial palsy and dysarthria on quality of life (QOL) in stroke patients. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the impact of central facial palsy on QOL compared with dysarthria during the chronic phase in patients with first-ever strokes. METHODS: This study represents an interim analysis of the Korean Stroke Cohort for Functioning and Rehabilitation study. We selected data from patients with functional independence of 0 or 1 by the modified Rankin Scale at 6 months after stroke onset, who showed an impairment only in National Institute of Health Stroke Scale items 4 (facial palsy) or 10 (dysarthria). Assessments included the European Quality of Life-5 Dimensions (EQ-5D) and the Geriatric depression scale-short form (GDS-SF). RESULTS: Data from 149 patients were selected for this analysis from 3,929 patients who were followed up at 6 months. Thirty-nine and 110 patients were classified into the facial palsy and dysarthria groups, respectively. The groups did not differ significantly in baseline characteristics or functional assessments. EQ-5D was significantly lower in the facial palsy group than in the dysarthria group at 6 months after stroke (p = 0.036). GDS-SF was significantly higher in the facial palsy group than in the dysarthria group (p = 0.005). CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study revealed that central facial palsy clearly has a more negative impact on QOL than dysarthria in chronic stroke patients with functional independence.