Mood scales for aphasic stroke patients 1.0
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Developing mood scales suitable for use with aphasic stroke patients
IRAS ID
188580
Contact name
Shirley Thomas
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Nottingham, King’s Meadow Campus
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 10 months, 0 days
Research summary
Stroke survivors are at particularly high risk of depression or other mood problems, and this may substantially affect a person’s recovery. Evidence suggests that people with communication problems after stroke (aphasia) are particularly at risk, yet there are few instruments to assess mood in people with severe communication difficulties. There is therefore a need to develop screening measures to assess mood in people whose ability to communicate is severely impaired or absent.
Following a three year project, a new, tablet/computer-based tool has now been developed to assess mood in stroke patients with communication problems; the tool uses sliders to animate facial expressions between mood states. It is hoped that scores from the D-VAMS can be used in place of those of conventional, language-based mood assessment tools such as the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) in patients who have communication difficulties, and as a screening measure to identify those at risk.
The scales (Dynamic Visual Analogue Mood Scales - D-VAMS or 'emotiscope') are now being validated in a small sample of stroke survivors without significant aphasia. The validation study involves completing a short task (10-15 minutes) on a tablet or PC, in which the participant reports their mood using sliders with face or word based scale, and answering a few questions about their mood.
A number of participants have been recruited via the internet, and through local stroke clubs in the Nottingham area, however it is important to include people in the early stages after stroke. I have therefore sought the cooperation of the Community Stroke Discharge and Rehabilitation Service (Nottingham CityCare Partnership), who have agreed to request consent to contact from a small sample of rehabilitation service users.
REC name
West of Scotland REC 4
REC reference
15/WS/0239
Date of REC Opinion
14 Oct 2015
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion