Depression among Rural Stroke Survivors: A Cross-Sectional Study

BACKGROUND: Depression is a major neuropsychiatric complication of stroke. Poststroke depression (PSD) can lead to inadequate functional recovery, social withdrawal, poor quality of life, and suicidal ideations. OBJECTIVE: The study explored the PSD among stroke survivors. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 151, purposively selected rural stroke survivors of Kozhikode district, Kerala, India. Patient health questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) was used to assess PSD. RESULTS: The age of participants ranged from 28 to 80 years with a mean (standard deviation) age of 64.58 (10.3) years. The majorities of the participants were males (53.6%), had an ischemic stroke (76.2%), and had left-sided brain lesions (75.5%). The median (interquartile range) depression scores on PHQ-9 were 9 (12–6). Most of the participants had either mild (47%), moderate (21.2%), or moderately severe depression (11.9%). Low energy, sleep disturbances, low self-esteem, and anhedonia were the common depressive symptoms experienced by the stroke survivors. CONCLUSIONS: High prevalence of undiagnosed depression remains as a significant challenge to primary care.