Depression in patients with acute stroke and the related factors

Objective:To investigate the prevalence of post stroke depression(PSD) at stroke acute phase and the related risk factors, and to provide clinical evidence for early diagnosis and treatment of it.Methods:Case-control study was used.102 patients of stroke were collected.The necessary conventional data including socio-demographic, medical history, blood, computed tomography(CT) or magnetic resonance imaging(MRI) scan examination were obtained.The patients were assessed 2 to 4weeks after the onset of stroke and divided into PSD group or control group according to the diagnostic criteria of depression in CCMD-3 of Chinese and the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale.The neurological deficit was estimated by National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale(NIHSS).The daily life skills were assessed by activities of daily living scales(ADL).Results:Of the 102 patients investigated, depressive disorder occurred in 45.09% of the cases(n=46).It was not related to the nature or location of the stroke, and there was no statistically significant difference between patients with diabetes, hypertension, coronary heart disease or hyperlipidemia(P>0.05), but patients with ≥2 complications were more susceptible to PSD(P<0.05).The score of NIHSS and ADL was consistently associated with the incidence of depression(P<0.01) and the score of ADL protection factors of PSD.Conclusions:Depression is a frequent and common complication among patients with stroke.The incident of PSD is not related with the nature or location of stroke, but obviously related to ADL and NIHSS.PSD may be associated with the risk factors for cerebrovascular diseases and complications.