Do Fatigue and Stress levels affect the Quality of Life among Stroke survivors (FaSt-Quality study)?

Fatigue is one of the greatest barriers to stroke recovery and rehabilitation. Post-stroke fatigue is associated with increased mortality, delayed return to work and increased dependency. It affects a health-related quality of life of stroke survivors. To improve the quality of life, it is therefore imperative to treat post-stroke fatigue. However, there is a lack of rigorous evidence-based guidelines to do this. This is mainly due to a poor understanding of post-stroke fatigue aetiology. The proposed study will examine the important yet neglected aspects of post-stoke fatigue- stress. We aim to understand how the change in the level of stress changes the relationship of post-stroke fatigue and quality of life. We will do this by investigating the moderating role of stress on the effect of post-stroke fatigue. The extent of this moderation can have an important clinical implication in designing an interventional strategy against post-stroke fatigue. Our study will provide a crucial evidence to implement the stress management strategies among stroke survivors to mitigate the debilitating impact of fatigue on their quality of life.