Risk factors for post-stroke depression in Sohag University Hospital

Depression is one of the important complications of stroke. Post-stroke depression is associated with more physical disability, especially in daily activities, poor functional outcome, and high mortality rate. Our study aimed to investigate the risk factors for development of post-stroke depression 3 months following stroke. This is a comparative study, comparing stroke patients with and without depression 3 months after the onset. Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS), Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), Scandinavian Stroke Scale (SSS), and modified Rankin scale (mRS) were used to evaluate patients 3 months post-stroke for depression, cognition, and physical disability. The patients were divided into two groups: patients’ group with depression and patients’ group without depression according to DSM-IV criteria. The clinical characteristics and scores on the HDRS, MMSE, SSS, and mRS were compared between depressive group and non-depressive group. Logistic regression analysis was performed to identify risk factors for depression 3 months after stroke. A total 102 stroke patients were recruited. Of these, 62 patients (60.78%) had depression. Multivariate logistic regression indicated that smoking, hypertension, increased physical disability, and impaired cognitive function were associated with post-stroke depression. Important risk factors found for PSD included smoking, hypertension, increased physical disability, and impaired cognitive function.