PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:
11-Nov-2014
Contact: Beata Mostafavi bmostafa@umich.edu 734-764-2220 University of Michigan Health System @UMHealthSystem
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- A record number of people are surviving heart attacks and stroke but those who do may experience a sharp decline in physical abilities that steadily accelerates over time, according to a new nationally-representative study led by the University of Michigan.
Heart attack and stroke were associated with a rapid decline in survivors' ability to take care of themselves over the next 10 years, many requiring long-term assistance for daily activities like dressing, bathing, grocery shopping and managing finances. Stroke survivors also appeared to be at a higher risk of depression and mental declines, including memory loss.
The findings appear in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes.
"More people are surviving heart attack and stroke than ever before but the long-term consequences for survivors may be much greater than we thought," says lead author Deborah Levine, M.D., M.P.H. assistant professor of internal medicine in the division of general medicine and the Stroke Program in the U-M Medical School and researcher in the VA Center for Clinical Management Research.
"We found that over time, survivors had increasing difficulty performing everyday tasks like walking, bathing, shopping and managing money and that these struggles got progressively worse every year following a heart attack or stroke."
Over 10 years, survivors of heart attack gained approximately 1.5 to 3.5 new functional limitations (problems with performing daily tasks) and survivors of stroke gained approximately 3.5 to 4.5 limitations.
In 2010, the U.S. saw 7.6 million heart attack survivors and 6.8 million stroke survivors, with rates expected to increase by 25 percent over the next two decades due to treatment advances and an aging population. Meanwhile, the supply of caregivers for older adults is expected to decline dramatically over the same time period.
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Heart attack, stroke survivors' care needs may be much greater than experts thought