Post-stroke depression:a clinical analysis of 370 cases

Objective To observe the prevalence of post-stroke depression (PSD) within 1 month after ischemic stroke onset in 370 patients and their clinical characteristics at early stage post-stroke. Methods Case register study was carried out using a continuous observation method. Totally 370 consecutive stroke patients were enrolled in the present study; the patients were conscious and had no cognitive disturbance. All patients completed the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAMD) with depression rating scale. The patients were divided into non-PSD group ( HAMD score≤6) and PSD group (7HAMD score ≤16). Patients with a score of 8-17 were taken as mild depression group, those with a score great than 17 taken as moderate to severe depression group. Results The prevalence of PSD within 1 month after ischemic stroke was 17.0% in the present study. We found that 31.7% of the PSD patients had a stroke history, significantly more than that in those had no stroke history. Mild depression symptoms were found in 88.9% of the PSD patients. The common clinical symptoms of PSD included retardation, anxiety and insomnia. Patients in the mild depression group had the highest retardation score and those in the moderate-severe depression groups had the highest anxiety/anxiety somatic factor scores. Patients with moderate-severe depression had more severe somatic symptoms, weigh loss, retardation, difficulty in falling asleep than those with mild depression symptoms. Conclusion PSD patients mainly have mild depression symptoms, with somatic disorder symptoms and sleep disorders being the commonest ones.