Body Cathexis among Stroke Survivors: A Cross-Sectional Study
- PMID: 33531757
- PMCID: PMC7846317
- DOI: 10.1055/s-0040-1716807
Body Cathexis among Stroke Survivors: A Cross-Sectional Study
Abstract
Background Stroke results in functional dependence and poor quality of life. Body cathexis is a measure of one's perceived body image. Stroke survivors often experience stress, anxiety, and disturbances in body image. Objectives The objective of the study was to explore the body cathexis of stroke survivors. Materials and Methods The cross-sectional survey was conducted at two rural community settings of Kozhikode district, Kerala. Using a purposive sampling, 151 stroke survivors were recruited. Results The mean age of the participants was 64.58 years. About 53.6% participants were males and majority of the participants had ischemic stroke (76.2%). About one-third of participants had moderately severe disability. Among the participants, the body cathexis scale (BCS) ranged from 176 to 202. The overall mean (standard deviation) BCS score was 190.09 (5.04). Satisfaction or dissatisfaction toward each body part was analyzed and found that significant areas of dissatisfaction were energy level (98%), wrist (88.1%), elimination (86.1%), fingers (76.2%), and arms (73.5%). The BCS scores compared with the sides of lesion, gender differences, and duration of stroke showed no significant differences in the mean (p>0.05). Conclusions Stroke survivors are found to experience disturbances in body image. Low energy level, poor functioning of upper extremities, and disturbed elimination patterns add primarily to body image disturbances. Body cathexis does not differ with side of lesion, gender differences, and duration of stroke.
Keywords: body cathexis; body image; stroke.
Association for Helping Neurosurgical Sick People. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial-License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Conflict of interest statement
Ethical ApprovalConflict of Interest The research proposal was reviewed and accepted by the institutional ethics committee of the Institute of Palliative Medicine, Kozhikode, Kerala. Administrative permission was obtained from the panchayats to collect the data at patients’ home. Data were collected from July 2019 to September 2019. Prior to the collection of data, we obtained written, informed consent from participants. We ensured the privacy, confidentiality, and anonymity of the participants during data collection, analysis, and reporting. This study is a part of community-based research on stroke. None declared.
