ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Med.
Sec. Family Medicine and Primary Care
This article is part of the Research TopicIntegrated primary care for post-stroke patients to improve long-term outcomes through multidisciplinary collaborationView all 5 articles
Association between family support and 6-months functional recovery in acute ischemic stroke patients: a prospective cohort study
Provisionally accepted
Ming Zhong1
Zhou Yiheng2Yu Jia2
Yi Yao2Yu Cheng2
Dongze Li2Yonggang Zhang2
Yi Lei2Qian Zhao2Jiajun Huang1
Xiaoyang Liao2*- 1The Second People's Hospital of Neijiang, Neijiang, China
- 2West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
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Aims: Stroke is a leading cause of disability and death worldwide, with family support playing a pivotal role in the recovery process. This study aimed to evaluate the association between family support levels and the short-term functional prognosis of patients with acute ischemic stroke. Materials and Methods: A total of 124 patients admitted to the Department of Neurology at West China Hospital of Sichuan University were included, with an average age of 68 years. Family support was assessed by the Family Support Questionnaire (FSQ) and the Family APGAR Questionnaire. The primary outcome was functional independence, defined as a Modified Rankin Scale (mRS) score of 0-2, assessed six months after discharge. Secondary outcomes included lifestyle behaviors and medication adherence. Multivariate logistic and linear regression were used to analyse the association between family support and functional independence. Results: Compared to patients with FSQ of 0-5, FSQ of 10-15 were significantly associated with greater functional independence (OR: 1.666, 95% CI 1.236-2.214, P=0.005) and mRS changes between baseline and follow-up at six-month (β: -1.001, 95% CI -1.418 to -0.584, P<0.001). However, the APGAR score was not significantly associated with functional recovery (P>0.05). Lifestyle improvements were noted post-stroke, but no significant differences were observed among different family support levels (P>0.05). Higher FSQ scores and APGAR scores were associated with better medication adherence (P<0.001). Conclusions: The study concludes family support is positively associated with functional recovery and medication adherence, further studies are needed to clarify whether improved medication adherence mediates this association.
Keywords: Acute ischemic stroke, family support, functional recovery, Medication Adherence, cohort study
Received: 13 Aug 2025; Accepted: 19 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Zhong, Yiheng, Jia, Yao, Cheng, Li, Zhang, Lei, Zhao, Huang and Liao. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Xiaoyang Liao, liaoxiaoyang@wchscu.cn
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