Abstract

Background: Nowadays, stroke is one of the most important and commonly diagnosed neurological diseases throughout the world. This disease annually causes numerous moralities and disabilities; its high prevalence is reported among the elderly. Objectives: The current study aimed at determining the lifestyle of the elderly with stroke in Ilam, Western Iran. Methods: The current descriptive, cross sectional study was conducted on 200 elderly people with stroke in Ilam, Western Iran by convenience sampling method. The study was conducted by the application of healthy lifestyle questionnaire with confirmed validity and reliability. After data collection, the data were analyzed with SPSS version 16 using descriptive statistics (mean and standard deviation) and inferential statistics (independent t test and ANOVA). Results: Findings of the current study showed that the majority of the studied elderly were male (n = 106, 53) aged 65 - 70 years (n = 93, 46.5), educated up to middle school level (n = 112, 56), with annual income range of US72,000 to US144,000 (n = 117, 58.5), had no spouse (n = 111, 5.55) and lived in the city(n = 115, 57.5). Mean (+/- standard deviation; SD) of age was 75.56 +/- 9.87 years, mean lifestyle score was 37.54 +/- 3.91, 9.55 +/- 1.79, 24.30 +/- 3.36, 18.76 +/- 1.79, and 28.04 +/- 2.41 in the dimensions of prevention, physical activity and recreational activities and sport, healthy nutrition, stress management, and inter-personal relationships, respectively. Total score of the questionnaire was 118.20 +/- 6.00, which indicated a medium score of healthy lifestyle in the elderly. Conclusions: Findings of the current study revealed that the lifestyle condition of the elderly with stroke was in medium level. It was suggested that the therapeutic and health teams, in particular nurses, intervene properly and use nursing care models to enhance the lifestyle of the elderly.