Original Article
Life Satisfaction and Return to Work After Aneurysmal Subarachnoid Hemorrhage

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jstrokecerebrovasdis.2010.02.001Get rights and content

This study was conducted to investigate life satisfaction and employment status after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) and to explain the associations between life satisfaction and demographic, disease-related, psychological, and personality characteristics. Subjects with SAH (n = 141) living at home 2-4 years after the SAH responded to a mailed questionnaire. Outcomes were life satisfaction, as measured with the Life Satisfaction Questionnaire 9 (LiSat-9), and employment status. Determinants in multiple regression analysis were demographic and SAH characteristics, subjective complaints (eg, mood disorder, fatigue, cognitive complaints), and personality characteristics (eg, neuroticism, passive coping style). Of the 141 subjects, 64 (46.7%) had a Glasgow Outcome Scale score of V (good outcome) at discharge. Mean subject age was 51.4 ± 12.3 years, and mean time after SAH was 36.1 ± 7.9 months. Of the 88 subjects who were working at the time of the SAH, 54 (61.4%) returned to work, but only 31 (35.2%) resumed their work completely. The subjects were least satisfied with their vocational situation (51.9% satisfied) and sexual life (51.7%) and were most satisfied with their relationships (75.2%-88.7%) and self-care ability (88.6%). Age (β value = 0.17), return to work after SAH (0.19), disability at hospital discharge (0.25), worsened mood (−0.37), and passive coping (−0.25) together accounted for 47.2% of the life satisfaction scores. Our data indicate that return to work is a major issue for individuals who survive an SAH. Not returning to work, disability, depression, and passive coping are associated with reduced life satisfaction. Thus, vocational reintegration after SAH merits more attention during rehabilitation.

Section snippets

Subjects

The study group comprised individuals who had experienced SAH from a ruptured aneurysm that had been treated by clipping or coiling between January 2003 and July 2005 in the University Medical Center Utrecht (UMCU) and who were living at home at the time of the study. Excluded were individuals with nonaneurysmal SAH, severe comorbidity, or reduced life expectancy, and those who could not speak Dutch. Those who agreed to participate were asked to complete a mailed questionnaire. The UMCU's

Results

Between January 2003 and July 2005, a total of 212 SAH survivors were treated by aneurysm coiling or clipping at UMCU. Of this group, 21 died in the hospital, 8 were discharged to a nursing home, 5 lived in a foreign country, and 4 had severe comorbidity. Thus, a total of 174 subjects were eligible for the survey and received a questionnaire; of these, 141 (81%) agreed to participate in this study. The 141 subjects with SAH who chose to participate and the 33 individuals with SAH who declined

Discussion

In this study, more than one-third of the subjects who were living at home after an episode of SAH were not satisfied with their life as a whole, and about half of the subjects were not satisfied with their employment situation and sexual life. Age, employment (especially after SAH), level of disability at hospital discharge, mood, and passive coping together explained almost half of the variance in life satisfaction.

Our results generally are in line with those of previous studies of HRQOL in

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    The authors have no conflict of interest.

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