Depression Common After Stroke

Posted: May 1, 2004

Stroke victims often have depressive symptoms, according to research findings published in the medical journal, Neurology. The time course of these symptoms varies and depends on the patient's mental functioning.

In the study, Dr. D. Leys, of the University of Lille in France, and colleagues examined 202 stroke patients for depressive symptoms and followed them for more than three years.

Forty-three percent of survivors had depressive symptoms after 6 months; this declined to 36 percent after 12 months, 24 percent after 24 months, and 18 percent after 36 months.

The investigators found that younger age and stroke on the right side of the brain were both associated with depressive symptoms at 36 months.

This variability between patients "might partly explain the discrepancies observed in previous studies on post-stroke depression and associated factors," the researchers noted.

Source: Neurology, March 23, 2004.

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