Background: The rise of stroke cases and other non-communicable diseases aligning with lifestyle and demographic change is being recorded across sub-Saharan Africa.It is therefore a cause for concern and requires urgent attention as it has become a major contributor to morbidity and mortality of patients with stroke. Stroke results in paralysis, with patients having to depend on caregivers and relatives for their activities of daily living. This dependence on caregivers can affect their health related quality of life. Most studies conducted on health related quality of life used quantitative approaches and hence information on the lived experiences of patients with stroke after undergoing physiotherapy treatment are few. This study was conducted toprovide information about what patients with stroke consider to be the determinants of their health related quality of life.

Objectives: To explore determinants of the health related quality of life of patients with stroke after physiotherapy treatment.

Method: An exploratory descriptive qualitative design was used in the study. Data were collected by means of semi-structured interviews at the out-patient physiotherapy department of the Ho Teaching Hospital. The inclusion criteria was patients with stroke who had at least three months of physiotherapy treatment. The study design involved a face-to-face semi-structured interview with open-ended questions, and a tape recorder was used to record the responses of the seven (7) participants. Data obtained from the interviews was transcribed, coded, and categorized systematically where themes were generated for data analysis using thematic content analysis.

Results: Four themes emerged from the study: These were ambulatory dysfunction, family support, belief in God and financial support.

Conclusion: The study concluded that ambulatory dysfunction as the main determinant of health related quality of life of patients with stroke.

Keywords: Stroke, Health related quality of life, Qualitative study, Physiotherapy, Ghana