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Unmet Needs Poststroke and Associated Factors: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Unmet Needs Poststroke and Associated Factors: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Kennice Tan, Tharshanah Thayabaranathan, Tara Purvis, Yiran Wang, Monique F. Kilkenny, Mark R. Nelson, Dominique A. Cadilhac, Lauren M. Sanders, Sarah J. Wallace, Rosanne Freak-Poli, …
Rehabilitation psychology, Vol.First online
08/06/2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/rep0000675
PMID: 42258252
Appears in  Recent Faculty of Health Publications
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Unmet Needs Poststroke and Associated FactorsView
Published (Version of record) Open CC BY V4.0

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Abstract

needs assessment stroke rehabilitation long-term care systematic review meta-analysis
Purpose/Objective: Data on commonly reported unmet needs poststroke are crucial to inform interventions and ongoing care of survivors. We aimed to synthesize contemporary data on the prevalence of unmet needs among survivors in the community, and associated factors. Research Method/Design: We searched MEDLINE, Embase, and CINAHL for articles with prevalence estimates on unmet needs poststroke. Only articles comprising data collected from 2013 to June 2025 from survivors living in the community or their proxies were included. A random-effects model was used to meta-analyze prevalence, whereas associated factors were summarized. Results: Of 1,233 articles screened, 19 were eligible for inclusion (n = 8,138 participants), including 13/19 with data on associated factors, and one from a low-to-middle-income country. Overall, 68 unique unmet needs were identified across six domains: body function (n = 13), cognition/mental health (n = 10), social/community integration (n = 7), activity/participation (n = 14), service/information (n = 11), and recovery (n = 13). The pooled prevalence of reporting >= 1 unmet need was 65%. Unmet needs with the greatest pooled prevalence estimates were those related to education/information on stroke (60%), fatigue (49%), concentration (46%), headache (37%), anxiety/depression (36%), and diet (36%). Factors that were commonly associated with reported unmet needs include those related to social determinants of health (most commonly age and sex), stroke type/severity, poststroke care (most commonly length of hospital stay and poststroke services), multimorbidity, and health and well-being. Conclusion/Implications: We provide contemporary data on unmet needs among stroke survivors in the community, and associated factors. Our findings could inform more tailored support, particularly psychological support, for survivors in the community.

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