Poststroke depression within the first year - phenomenology and clinical correlates from real-world data

Studies of poststroke depression (PSD) in Singapore are limited. Specifically, the dynamic epidemiology and phenomenology of PSD in the different stroke types are unknown.

This study aims to characterize the epidemiology and phenomenology of PSD in both the hospital setting, and in the community setting up to one year after stroke.

Real-world clinical data of 1732 consecutive stroke patients in a tertiary stroke centre was extracted from inception in January 2010 to 30 November 2021. The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ) were used to identify PSD. Demographic, comorbidities and stroke-related variables, and stroke severity were extracted and analysed by stroke type - ischemic, haemorrhagic, and strategic, at the hospitalisation and community follow-up cross-sections. For each group, the characteristics of those with PSD were compared against those without PSD. Logistic regression was performed to identify PSD predictors. Phenomenology was mapped by the relative frequencies of endorsed items on PHQ and HADS in PSD patients.

The prevalence of in-hospital PSD was 19.24 % in ischemic stroke, and 24.59 % in both haemorrhagic strokes and strategic basal ganglia/thalamus strokes. Prevalence of PSD in 547 stroke patients who were followed-up ≤ 12 months was 6.42 % in ischemic strokes, 3.52 % in haemorrhagic strokes and 5.23 % among strategic strokes. The association of right sided, bilateral strokes, strategic strokes, and large vessel aetiology with PSD only exists for ischemic strokes. Greater functional impairment and a past psychiatric history are independent predictive factors of PSD in all stroke types. Symptom profile of in-hospital PSD includes anxious distress.

These findings have immediate clinical applicability considering the representativeness of the study sample.