The effect of intensive family-centered health education on the awareness rate, diagnosis, and treatment of post-stroke depression in community families

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of intensive family-centered health education on the awareness rate, diagnosis, and treatment of post-stroke depression (PSD) in community families. METHODS: Elderly patients (60–90 years) from 20 community service centers affiliated with the Department of Neurology and the Medical Association of Tongling Municipal Hospital who had been diagnosed with stroke between January 2017 and June 2020 were screened using the hospital and community electronic medical record system. In this randomized cluster trial, 119 patients from 10 communities were assigned as the control group and received routine community treatment, while 126 patients from the other 10 communities were assigned as the experimental group and received routine treatment plus family-centered intensive health education. After 12 months of medical intervention, the assessment of PSD in the two groups was performed by a neurologist and a psychiatrist, both blind to the study design, using the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression. RESULTS: The awareness rates of the causes, clinical manifestations, treatment plan, and family care of PSD in the experimental group were 88.89, 91.30, 93.65, and 92.06%, respectively. In the control group, the awareness rates of these parameters were 72.27, 69.75, 71.43, and 65.55%, respectively, and the differences between the two groups were statistically significant (P < 0.05). In the experimental group, the rates of PSD diagnosis, prompt medical attendance, drug treatment compliance, and psychotherapeutic treatment compliance were 27.78, 22.22, 18.25, and 11.90%, respectively. In the control group, the rates of these parameters were 13.79, 6.03, 3.48, and 1.72%, respectively, and the differences between the two groups were statistically significant (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Intensive family-centered health education can improve the level of knowledge of PSD in the community, promote the timely treatment and diagnosis of PSD in patients, and improve the compliance rates of drug therapy and psychotherapy, so this is worthy of promotion.