This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Hellawell, D. J Articles by Pentland, B. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Hellawell, D. J Articles by Pentland, B. Social Bookmarking                   What's this?

Persisting symptoms and carers' views of outcome after subarachnoid haemorrhage

Rehabilitation Studies Unit, The University of Edinburgh, Scotland

Robert Taylor

Western General Hospital NHS Trust, Edinburgh, Scotland

Brian Pentland

Scottish Brain Injury Rehabilitation Service, Edinburgh, Scotland

Objective: To report the outcome of aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage (SAH) in terms of subjective symptoms and carers' perspective over a period of two years.

Design: Forty-four consecutive patients admitted to a Regional Neurosurgical Unit and who survived aneurysmal SAH were invited for outpatient assessment at 6, 12 and 24 months post haemorrhage.

Measures: The Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOS) was used to measure global outcome; the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HAD) to screen for affective symptoms; the Head Injury Symptom Checklist (HISC) to detect symptoms commonly reported after head trauma; and information was collected from a close friend or relative of the patient using the Relative's Questionnaire (RQ).

Results: GOS outcome was significantly related to the severity of the original haemorrhage, as classified by the World Federation of Neurological Surgeons (WFNS) Grading Scale, on admission to hospital. However, even in cases where patients had made a good recovery according to the GOS, a variety of problems were frequently reported by patients and relatives, and many of these persisted for the duration of the study. The three most common and persistent symptoms were tiredness (63%, 59% and 59% at 6, 12 and 24 months respectively), memory disturbance (50%, 52% and 56%) and passivity (61%, 47% and 46%). In contrast, the prevalence of disturbed mood, as reported using the HAD, was similar to that of the general population.

Conclusions: Studies of outcome following SAH should address these subtle disturbances, and information pertaining to potential long-term problems should be provided to patients and relevant others.

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				T. Koyama, K. Matsumoto, T. Okuno, and K. Domen A new method for predicting functional recovery of stroke patients with hemiplegia: logarithmic modelling Clinical Rehabilitation, July 1, 2005; 19(7): 779 - 789. [Abstract] [PDF]

				M. L. Hackett and C. S. Anderson Health outcomes 1 year after subarachnoid hemorrhage: An international population-based study Neurology, September 12, 2000; 55(5): 658 - 662. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]