Table 1.

Standardized instruments

Name of the instrument	Type	Concept and dimensions	Scores
Stroke and aphasia quality of life SAQOOL-39 (Hilari et al. 2003 2009)	Health related quality of life (disease specific)	Total score and four sub scores; physical function, communication ability, psychosocial life and energy level.	39 statements where informants rate the extent to which they struggle with the different functions with scores ranging from “can do it” (5) to “cannot do it “(1).
Faces Scale (Andrews and Robinson, 1991)	Global evaluation	Emotional wellbeing	Seven visual faces expressing different degrees of happiness/sadness, with scores ranging from “very happy” (7) to “very sad” (1).
Cantril’s Ladder Scale (Cantril 1965)	Global evaluation	Life satisfaction	Visual ladder with ten steps. Step ten at the top of the ladder depicts the highest level of satisfaction (10), and step one depicts the lowest (1).
Hopkins symptom check list – 8 items (Tambs, 2004)	Symptom specific	Psychological distress/mental health	Eight statements related to common symptoms of anxiety and depression with scores ranging from “not bothered” (4) to “very bothered” (1).