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Updated: Apr 8, 2026
Optimized Management of Endovascular Treatment for Acute Ischemic Stroke
Published on: January 18, 2018
The Effect of a Brief Intervention for Patients with Ischemic Stroke: A Randomized Controlled Trial
Yuehua Peng1, Yun Lu2, Weiquan Wei3
1Department of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, School of Public Health, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China; Personnel Department of The First Hospital of Putian City, Putian, Fujian, China.
Background:
Depression and anxiety are common after stroke. There is inconclusive evidence of the benefit of psychotherapy for poststroke depression and anxiety. Here, we used a brief intervention, Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) brief therapy plus health education, to evaluate the changes in patients with ischemic stroke.
Methods:
One hundred eighty patients were randomly allocated to receive 4 sessions of NLP plus health education (n = 90) or usual care (n = 90). A set of questionnaires was used preintervention and postintervention as well as at the 6-month follow-up. The primary outcomes were the prevalence of depression and anxiety, and the awareness of stroke knowledge.
Results:
More patients in the intervention group achieved remission of depressive (odds ratio [OR], 2.81; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.41-5.59) and anxious symptoms (OR, 2.19; 95% CI, 1.15-4.18) after intervention. At the 6-month follow-up, we found no differences between groups in both the prevalence of depression and anxiety. After intervention, the intervention group had better awareness rates on most of the stroke knowledge items (P < .05). It also had better quality of life and physical function both after intervention and at the follow-up (P < .05).
Conclusions:
NLP plus health education could reduce depression and anxiety immediately after intervention, but not at the 6-month follow-up. The intervention could also improve the awareness of stroke knowledge and benefit patients on quality of life and physical function.
