Morbidity of depression and anxiety in post-stroke patients in a government tertiary care hospital in Mandya

Abstract

Background: Post-stroke depression and anxiety are often ignored most common neuropsychiatric manifestations of stroke, which may significantly affect functional recovery and quality of life of the patients. Scanty data on the nature of depression and anxiety among stroke patients prompted this study. Objective: To assess the prevalence and predictors of post-stroke depression and anxiety in a tertiary care hospital in Mandya. Materials and Methods:This three months cross-sectional study evaluated and assessed 100 stroke survivors encountered at the Medicine outpatient department in a tertiary medical centre in Mandya for mental and emotional disorders using the structural interview schedule, General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28) and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS).Demographic and clinical data on stroke type and severity as well as health related quality of life indicators were recorded in a well-designed data collection form. Predictors of stroke-related depression were assessed. Results: The 100 patients evaluated constituted 57 males and 43 females and the mean age was found to be 52.13 ± 9.4 years. A marked difference was observed in the percentages of stroke presented with left sided hemiparesis (62%) and right sided hemiparesis (38%). Majority of the study population were comprised by occupationally semiskilled or dependent stroke survivors and those from the urban and semi-urban areas some of whom were uneducated (34%), some who have completed their primary education (35%) and others who have completed their secondary education (25%), who predominantly belonged to class IV of Modified Kuppuswamy Scale for socio-economic status. About 62% of them were diagnosed to have depression and 52% of them used alcohol and 7% of them had anxiety symptoms. Conclusions: Our study concludes that post stroke depression and anxiety are more frequent in older, male patients and in those with localized stroke in the medial left hemisphere, with higher disability score.