Scientists have studied the risk of depression after a stroke
Researchers from the UK have found that six out of 10 people after suffering a stroke will struggle with depression for the next 18 years.
Depression is a fairly common pathology among those who have suffered a stroke. According to the American Stroke Association, biochemical changes in the brain caused by acute disruption of its blood supply can contribute to depression. However, little is known about the long-term prospects of its development in such people.
Researchers from King's College London (UK) examined data from the South London Stroke Registry from 1995-2019 for 6,641 people. The findings of the study are presented in the journal The Lancet.
Baseline data included sociodemographic factors (gender, age, ethnicity), socioeconomic status, type of stroke experienced (ischemic or hemorrhagic), living conditions (sharing with someone or alone), presence of disability, severity of the experienced disruption of the blood supply to the brain, factors in the development of depression up to that point, and level of cognitive function.
The researchers determined the presence of pathology and its degree using a special scale of anxiety and depression within three months after the stroke, and then - annually for 18 years. So it was possible to compare early and late (after a year) forms of depression in stroke survivors, as well as its mild and severe stages.
A total of 3,864 patients (55.4 percent of them were men) were examined for the presence of depression at all times. It turned out that its prevalence ranged from 2,293 cases one year after the stroke to 145 18 years afterward. The cumulative incidence of the disorder was 59.4 percent, of which 87.9 percent occurred within five years of the disruption of blood supply to the brain.
Meanwhile, 46.6 percent of patients whose depression worsened three months after the stroke had recovered after one year. However, 66.7 percent of them experienced recurrences of the disorder: 94.4 percent of the recurrences of depression occurred within five years of the brain hemorrhage.
The severe form of the disorder in stroke survivors occurred earlier, lasted longer than expected, and relapsed more quickly than those who suffered only mild depression. Overall, the researchers learned that depression after stroke persisted longer than thought.
"Quality of life for people who have suffered a brain hemorrhage is important because depression reduces survival. There may be many reasons for this, including impairments in social life, reduced physical abilities, and inflammatory disorders seen in patients with pathology. Doctors need to pay special attention to stroke survivors if their depression lasts more than a year," shared the opinion of the first author of the study, doctoral student Lu Liu (Lu Liu).