Objectives: Stroke is a major cause of long-term disability globally, and visual impairment is among its most common sequelae. With improved survival, attention has shifted from acute management to addressing long-term outcomes that influence quality of life (QoL). Ocular abnormalities represent a significant but often overlooked complication of stroke. This study assessed the quality of life of stroke survivors and examined the impact of ocular abnormalities on vision-related quality of life scores. Materials and Methods: A retrospective cross-sectional study involving 83 consecutive new stroke patients seen at the Federal Teaching Hospital, Lokoja, over 3 months was conducted. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire comprising biodata, visual history, ocular examination results and the National Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire-25 QoL instrument. Descriptive statistics, Chi-square and Fisher’s exact tests were used for analysis. Results: The 83 participants (166 eyes) were aged 40–71 years (mean 55.3 ± 7.1), with 59.0% males. Most participants were employed (67.5%) and 48.2% had tertiary education. Ocular abnormalities were present in 69 participants, leading to a prevalence of 83.1%. QoL scores were generally high. Overall, 96.4% of participants reported high QoL in general health/vision, 89.2% reported high QoL in difficulty-with-activities and 79.5% reported high QoL in responses to vision problems. Only cataract ( P < 0.001) and grade 3 hypertensive retinopathy ( P = 0.039) showed statistically significant associations with QoL. Stroke-related abnormalities such as visual field defects, ptosis and ocular motor paresis showed no significant relationship with QoL. Conclusion: Despite a high prevalence of ocular abnormalities, most stroke survivors demonstrated high vision-related QoL, possibly due to resolution of visual deficits before assessment. Early and regular ophthalmic evaluation is recommended to optimise QoL in this population.
Ocheni et al. (Mon,) studied this question.