The Functional Status and Quality of Life of Patients with Post-Stroke Depression with a Review on their Cognitive and Neurological Status

The aim of this study was to determine the effect of depression on the functional status and quality of life of patients with stroke, with a review on their cognitive and neurological status. Prospective study included 60 patients treated for the first stroke events, of which 30 patients with diagnosed Post-Stroke Depression (PSD) and 30 patients without depression. Tests were conducted two and six weeks after a stroke. Depression was diagnosed by Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV diagnostic criteria), the severity of depression quantified by Hamilton’s Depression Scale (HDRS), the functional status was assessed by the Barthel Index (BI), quality of life was assessed by the Short Form 36 questionnaires (SF-36), cognitive status is evaluated by the Mini Mental State Examination (MINI), and neurological status of the record Stroke scales of the National Institute of Health, USA (NIH). Although the potential for functional recovery in depressive patients is not less, more severe neurological deficit, and so significantly more severe functional disability, was registered in the group of patients with post-stroke depression, initially, as well as after completion rehabilitation treatment. The mean scores on all quality of life domains were higher in patients without post-stroke depression. These differences were statistically highly significant except for the domain of bodily pain. Patients with post-stroke depression have significantly more severe cognitive impairment in relative to non-depressant patients.