Testing the effectiveness of knowledge and behavior therapy in patients of hemiplegic stroke

The purpose of this study was to examine demographic variables associated with anger and well-being in patients with stroke, to investigate the hypothesis that knowledge and behavior (K&B) therapy improves patients' emotional and physical well-being, and to discover psychological variables associated with therapeutic outcomes.

Seventy-seven patients with hemiplegic stroke were randomly assigned to either a control condition (the conventional therapy) or an experimental condition (K&B therapy). Both the experimental and control groups received physical therapy, which included prescribed medications and rehabilitation training programs for body functions. In addition, the experimental group received counseling, which consisted of a knowledge component and a behavioral training component.

Patients' gender and ratings of stressful events were related to emotional health and well-being. Compared to the control group, the experimental group generally reported greater improvements in state anger, external anger, anger control, depression, quality of life, and activities of daily living.

Consistent with our expectations, patients with stroke who received K&B training showed greater improvements in mental and physical health. Our findings suggest that the K&B therapy effectively targeted anger and improved the well-being among patients with stroke. It is our recommendation that K&B therapy should be implemented with a hospital's standard procedure for stroke recovery.