Risk factors for post-stroke depression in Sohag University hospital

Background: Depression is one of the important complications of stroke. Post-stroke depression is associated with more physical disability, especially in daily activities, poor functional outcome, and high mortality rate. Objective: Our study aimed to investigate the risk factors for development of post-stroke depression 3 months following stroke. Methods: This is a comparative study, comparing stroke patients with and without depression 3 months after the onset. Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS), Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), Scandinavian Stroke Scale (SSS), and modified Rankin scale (mRS) were used to evaluate patients 3 months post-stroke for depression, cognition, and physical disability. The patients were divided into two groups: patients’ group with depression and patients’ group without depression according to DSM-IV criteria. The clinical characteristics and scores on the HDRS, MMSE, SSS, and mRS were compared between depressive group and non-depressive group. Logistic regression analysis was performed to identify risk factors for depression 3 months after stroke. Results: A total 102 stroke patients were recruited. Of these, 62 patients (60.78%) had depression. Multivariate logistic regression indicated that smoking, hypertension, increased physical disability, and impaired cognitive function were associated with post-stroke depression. Conclusion: Important risk factors found for PSD included smoking, hypertension, increased physical disability, and impaired cognitive function.