Objective  To examine life satisfaction (LS) among stroke inpatients and their caregivers and to explore mutual impacts of the inpatients′ and caregivers′ factors on their LS.

  Methods  We conducted a questionnaire survey among 600 stroke inpatients and their caregivers randomly selected at medical institutions (including tertiary hospitals and community health centers) in Shanghai city during January – June 2016.

  Results  Totally 575 inpatient caregiver pairs were included in the analysis. For the inpatients, 52.9% (304) were male; 78.6% (452) were married; the mean age was 67.13 ± 14.74 years and the majority of them had the education of junior high school. For the caregivers, 59.1% (340) were female; 92.7% (533) were married; the mean age was 50.38 ± 14.89 years and the majority of them had the education of junior high school. Among the caregivers, 47.8%, 35.5%, and 9, 1.6% were the inpatients′ partners, children, and siblings. The inpatients′ LS was influenced by their own ages (β = – 0.10), while the caregivers′ LS was influenced by their own education level (β = 0.08). The inpatients′ self care capability had positive influence on LS of the inpatients (β = 0.11) and of the caregivers (β = 0.07). The satisfaction of the inpatients and their caregivers to hospitalization service had negative impact on LS of both the inpatients (β = – 0.33) and the caregivers (β = – 0.16).

  Conclusion  Both the inpatients′ characteristics and the factors of the inpatients′ caregivers should be considered to improve the life satisfaction of stroke patients.