Stroke affects couple's relationship: Researchers

The researchers found that sexual relations were drastically affected following a stroke. The gender roles became unclear and feelings of frustration were aggravated by lack of freedom and ongoing weakness.

Research and its findings
The researchers from Northern Ireland came up with four basic recommendations after talking to 16 married stroke survivors, nine males and seven females between the age group of 33 to 78.

“All the participants perceived stroke as a life-changing event. They faced a continuous daily struggle to achieve some sense of normality and that required huge amounts of physical and mental effort,” said Hilary Thompson, one of the researchers.

All the respondents reported changes in their behaviour after they suffered from a stroke and most of them mentioned feeling irritated, angry, agitated and intolerant.

Many even said that they failed to prevent their sudden outbursts of emotions, which often left them feeling guilty and pessimistic.

Among the female respondents majority lost interest in how they looked and almost all the research participants felt that their sexual life particularly had been affected after a stroke.

Suggestions for dealing with stroke patients
The researchers have given some suggestions that can help medical professionals deal with stroke patients in the clinics and hospitals.

They propose that nurses should be educated on the physical and psychological effects of the stroke so that they are able to provide better care to stroke sufferers and their partners. Nurses should also be provided demonstration on how to address the needs of stroke sufferers more efficiently.

Health experts should be familiarized with the intense impact of stroke on sexuality and sexual behavior of the couple.

Counseling services should be made available to these couples on how to cope with the changes that take place after undergoing a stroke.

The research is published in the June issue of the Journal of Clinical Nursing.

This research was initiated by Hilary Thompson from Mullinure Hospital in Armagh and Dr Assumpta Ryan from the School of Nursing and Institute of Nursing Research at the University of Ulster.