The Validity and Reliability of the Turkish Version of the Testing Emotionalism After Recent Stroke - Questionnaire

This study was designed to conduct Turkish validity and reliability study of Testing Emotionalism After Recent Stroke - Questionnaire (TEARS-Q) in order to use it for Turkish people with stroke.

Post-stroke emotionality is defined as excessive and unseemly crying or laughing in the absence of a motivating stimulus or in response to stimuli that would not typically trigger such emotions. Emotionality is a severe neurological condition marked by a loss of control over emotional responses. This occurs at a rate of about 17% in the acute period (1 month following stroke). Emotionality is classified as crying, laughing, or both crying and laughing. Stroke patients are more likely than others to cry alone.

Abnormal emotional responses in the acute phase following stroke are often recognized as part of the adaptation process, which delays emotionality diagnosis. It is critical in therapeutic practice to identify emotionality from other affective illnesses, as well as mood and personality disorders. Post-stroke sadness is sometimes misinterpreted with emotionality. Underdiagnosis and misdiagnosis, on the other hand, have clinically detrimental implications such as increased social limitation, worse quality of life, and delayed help-seeking behavior.

There are different scales evaluating emotionality in the literature. Pathological Laughter and Crying Scale and Center for Neurological Sciences-Lability Scale have limited use in stroke patients and have uncertain psychometric properties (no cut-off scores, uncontrolled crying and laughing attacks cannot be evaluated in different sub-dimensions). ), that's why the Testing Emotionalism After Recent Stroke - Questionnaire (TEARS-Q) was developed.

The aim of this study is to provide a Turkish translation and cross-cultural adaption of the TEARS-Q, as well as to assess the validity and reliability of the Turkish version in patients with acute stroke.

The procedures and objectives of the research will be described to the participants verbally and in writing before to all evaluations, and signed agreement will be collected from the participants..

Participants in the research will complete a personal (gender, age, weight, height, body mass index, education level) and medical history form (comorbidity, stroke side, type of stroke, stroke age) constructed using available literature. The Standardized Mini-Mental Test will be used to assess participants' overall cognitive level, the American National Institutes of Health (NIHS) Stroke Scale to assess stroke severity, and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale to assess anxiety levels. To assess construct validity, the EQ-5D General Quality of Life Scale, the Barthel Activities of Daily Living Index, and the Neurological Sciences Center - Lability Scale will be applied.

Eligibility Criteria:
Inclusion Criteria:

* Participants who diagnosed with ischemic or hemorrhagic stroke

Exclusion Criteria:

* Aphasia
* Subarachnoid or off-axis bleeding
* Diagnosis of Transient Ischemic Attack
* Severe comorbidity in addition to stroke
* Dementia
* Cognitive or behavioral problems
* Life expectancy of less than 3 months