POST STROKE DEPRESSION: EXPERIENCE AT A TERTIARY CARE HOSPITAL OF PAKISTAN

Abstract

Objective: To determine the frequency of depression in post stroke patients visiting a tertiary care hospital.

Study Design: Cross-sectional analytic study.

Place and Duration of Study: The study was carried at Armed Forces Institute of Mental Health Rawalpindi over 6 months, from Nov 2016 to Apr 2017.

Material and Methods: The present study involved 130 post-stroke patients of either gender aged between 30-70 years who presented at the outpatient department of Armed Forces Institute of Mental Health Rawalpindi with stroke within past 2 years. A structured questionnaire was used to collect demographic data. Depression was assessed using ICD-10 diagnostic criteria. Attributing factors like patient’s age, gender, duration of stroke, educational, employment, socioeconomic and marital status and presence or absence of siblings, obesity and diabetes were noted. A signed written consent was taken from all patients.

Results: The mean age of the patients was 57.1 ± 10.9 years. There were 75 (57.7%) male and 55 (42.3%) female patients with a male to female ratio of 1.4:1. Depression was diagnosed in 51 (39.2%) post-stroke patients. There was no statistically significant difference in the frequency of depression across various subgroups based on patient’s age, gender, duration of stroke, educational, employment, socioeconomic and marital status and presence or absence of siblings, obesity and diabetes.

Conclusion: Depression was observed in a substantial proportion of post-stroke patients presenting at a tertiary care hospital which warrants routine screening for timely identification and management of depression in future practice to improve the quality of life and outcome of such patients.