Cognitive deficits, social support, depression and quality of life of post-stroke patients

Abstract

A stroke is a life-threatening event which has physical, emotional and cognitive consequences. Thisstudy aimed to identify differences between participants who suffered a stroke and healthy controls,concerning cognitive performance, depressive symptoms, social support and quality of life; to examinethe associations between these variables among participants who suffered a stroke; and to identify thevariables that best classify patients and controls. The sample included 30 patients who suffered astroke and 30 healthy participants. Both groups presented similar sociodemographic characteristics.All participants were assessed with The Institute of Cognitive Neurology Frontal Screening, theMontreal Cognitive Assessment, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, the Instrumental-Expressive Social-Support Scale, and the Short Form Health Survey-36. Post-stroke patients had lowercognitive performance, lower social support, lower quality of life and higher depressive symptomsthan the control group. Social support was positively related to quality of life and negatively relatedto depressive symptoms in the clinical group. Cognitive deficits and depressive symptoms correctlyclassified belonging to the clinical group in 85% of cases, and significantly predicted the stroke. Thisstudy underlines the importance of implementing psychological interventions addressing depressivesymptoms and cognitive rehabilitation for post-stroke patients.