Anxiety and depression 3 years following stroke: demographic, clinical, and psychological predictors

Our earlier work had established that moderate depression significantly decreased over the first 6 months after stroke, whereas anxiety levels remained moderate but stable. This study examines the factors predictive of anxiety and depression to 3 years.

Patients were assessed on six occasions: on hospital admission, 10-20 days following admission, 1 and 6 months following discharge, and 1 and 3 years poststroke, with 38 of the original sample of 101 taking part at Year 3. Demographic and clinical variables, disability, handicap, and psychological measures were used to predict 3-year anxiety and depression, controlling for earlier levels of anxiety or depression.

Multiple regression analyses of anxiety at 3 years, controlling for gender and previous anxiety, demonstrated that neither of the significant partial correlates of 6-month depression or satisfaction with treatment persisted. Gender effects persisted when controlling for previous anxiety. Multiple regression analyses of depression at 3 years, controlling for early depression, found that exercise, treatment satisfaction, anxiety, and handicap added significantly to the prediction of lower depression.

Anxiety remains stable over 3 years poststroke and is best explained by prior, early, anxiety, and female gender. Depression reduces over time and was explained by modifiable cognitions and behaviours, which replicates previous findings.