BACKGROUND: Education of patients and their families regarding transition from an acute stroke unit to inpatient rehabilitation is paramount so that they can make an informed choice about the type of rehabilitation proposed. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of watching a teaching video on stroke patients and their caregivers after being referred to inpatient stroke rehabilitation (ISR) on knowledge of rehabilitation, anxiety level, and perceived stress and to explore the association and effect of co-variables (age, severity of disease, sex, and level of scolarity).
METHODS: A pre-/post-intervention research design was used. ISR-bound patients and caregivers were recruited during hospitalisation following a stroke. Assessments took place before discharge to the rehabilitation center at three timepoints: Immediately before (A1), immediately after (A2), and one to three days after (A3) the video-viewing.
RESULTS: Thirty-two (32) individuals (acute stroke phase) and 32 caregivers were recruited. There was a statistically significant improvement in knowledge about ISR right after viewing the video (p = 0.000), but no difference for anxiety and perceived stress (p > 0.05) for stroke patients and caregivers. No association with age, severity of diseased, sex and level of scolarity was found with knowledge of rehabilitation, anxiety level, and perceived stress.
CONCLUSION: A teaching video improves knowledge about ISR for stroke patients and caregivers. However, viewing a video on ISR does not seem to decrease anxiety and perceived stress in short-term.
