A new American study has shown that language we speak could have an effect on how we recover from a stroke.
The study focuses on the language Mexican American individuals speak and if it plays a part towards how they recover after a stroke.
Study author, Lewis B. Morgenstern of the University of Michigan, says: “Our study found that Mexican American people who spoke only Spanish had worse neurologic outcomes three months after having a stroke than Mexican American people who spoke only English or were bilingual.
“More research is needed into what factors and barriers may influence these worse outcomes.”
Included in this study were 1,096 Mexican American individuals in Corpus Christi, Texas, who had a stroke over a period of 10 years.
Researchers examined results three months after the stroke in three areas: neurologic, functional and thinking and memory skills.
Neurologic results cover areas such as muscle strength and coordination and issues with speech and or vision. Functional results look at how well individuals can complete daily activities such as showering and cooking.
The 170 individuals who only spoke Spanish were compared with the 926 individuals who spoke English only or were bilingual.
Those who only speak Spanish were older, had received less education and had worse neurologic scores at the time of the stroke than those in the other group.
Three months post-stroke, the Spanish-only speakers had average neurologic scores of seven, where scores of 5 to 14 indicate moderate effects from a stroke.
The English-only and Bilingual speakers had average scores of 4, where scores of 1 to 4 indicate only mild effects.
These results remained the same after researchers adjusted for the differences between the two groups and other factors that could affect stroke risk.
The study found no differences between the two groups in terms of how well they recovered their ability to compete their daily activities or in their thinking and memory skills.
Morgernstern, says: “We conducted an earlier study in this same community finding that the language people spoke was not associated with any delay in their getting to the hospital or using emergency medical services after an ischemic stroke, so we definitely need more information to determine what is driving the differences in outcomes between these two groups.”
