Cerebrovascular Disease: Quality of Life (CODE: QoL)
Trial Parameters
Brief Summary
The goal of this observational study is to learn about quality of life, stress and caregiver burden in patients with stroke and their caregivers. The main question is: • to discover the factors associated with quality of life and stress in patient-caregiver dyads. Participants will be asked to fill out questionnaires and agree to provide a hair sample (in order to measure stress hormones in hair) and consent to use of their routine clinical and laboratory data. Researchers will compare a group of participants without stroke to establish a comparable baseline.
Eligibility Criteria
Control group: Inclusion criteria: * over 18 years old * No previous stroke OR previous stroke \>3 years ago * No significant disability (maximum mRS 1) * ambulatory patients at the University Hospital of Zurich (USZ), Dept. of Neurology * Patients' AND caregiver's ability to give informed consent * Patients' AND close relative's / caregiver's willingness to participate Exclusion criteria: • Medication with steroid hormones (prednisone, prednisolone, dexamethasone, methylprednisolone, hydrocortisone etc.) within last 3 months Main Group: Inclusion criteria: * over 18 years old * Patients diagnosed with either transient ischemic attack, ischemic stroke or intracerebral hemorrhage and their caregivers * Caregiver of a patient as described above, age over 18 years * Hospitalized or ambulatory patients at the University Hospital of Zurich (USZ) included within 28 days from event. * Patients' AND caregiver's ability to give informed consent * Patients' AND caregiver's willingness to partici