Social work after stroke: identifying demand for support by recording stroke patients’ and carers’ needs in different phases after stroke

Table 1 Overview of participant and patient characteristics

Person making contact with SSP		Patient	Care taking relative	Friend or health care professional	Not recorded	Total
Age of patient (years)	<45	10	8	1	4	23
	45–64	25	56	6	3	90
	>/=65	36	93	3	12	144
Phase of stroke	acute hospital	0	26	0	3	29
	rehabilitation hospital	0	46	2	0	48
	in nursing care	1	16	1	2	20
	out-patient	70	69	7	14	160
Method of contact	telephone	30	69	5	3	107
	face to face	41	81	5	16	143
	written	0	7	0	0	7
Sex of patient	male	36	91	6	10	143
	female	34	58	1	9	102
	not recorded	1	8	3	0	12
Time after stroke (month)^a	<6	18	91	3	3	115
	>6	38	57	6	10	111
	not recorded	5	9	1	6	21

^aAn additional 10 patients were at high risk of stroke due to medical and familial risk factors but no stroke had taken place. Interest in this group was focused on medical and therapeutic questions. Including or excluding these patients from general analysis did not significantly change the results (Table 2)

ISSN: 1471-2377