Felt stigma as a determinant of health-related quality of life among community-dwelling stroke survivors in China: A cross-sectional study.

Objectives: To assess the role of felt stigma versus enacted stigma in the health-related quality of life of community--dwelling stroke survivors in China.

Materials And Methods: A sample of 189 community--dwelling stroke survivors were investigated with the Stigma Scale for Chronic Illness (SSCI), 12-item Short Form-12 Health Survey (SF-12), modified Barthel index (MBI), Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale (ZSDS), and demographic and disease-related characteristics. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis was used to estimate the influence of felt stigma and enacted stigma on quality of life after controlling for depression, activities of daily living, and patient characteristics.

Results: In total, 189 S survivors were included in the study. Overall stigma, felt stigma, and enacted stigma were moderately and strongly positively and significantly correlated with quality of life, depression, and activity in daily living (P < 0.05). Felt stigma significantly explained 2.2 % (P < 0.01) of the variance in the physical component summary (PCS). Felt stigma significantly explained 8.6 % (P < 0.01) of the variance in the mental component summary (MCS). However, enacted stigma had no effect on PCS or MCS.

Conclusion: Felt stigma significantly and independently contributed to the PCS and MCS quality of life of community-dwelling stroke survivors after adjustment for depression, activity of daily living and patient characteristics.