POSTSTROKE DEPRESSION IN CLINICAL-PRACTICE - THE ABILITY OF STAFF TO RECOGNIZE DEPRESSIVE MOOD

Depression is the commonest emotional reaction after stroke. In earlie r studies, diagnosis of depression was based on structured depression tests. So far there have been no reports in which the diagnosis of dep ression is based on normal clinical practice in which the verification of depressive mood made by the staff is essential. We studied 246 (48 %) of 511 ischaemic stroke patients who were diagnosed at the Departme nt of Neurology at Kuopio University Hospital during 1988-89. All the information was collected retrospectively from medical records. Depres sion in patients was suspected by the staff because of the recurrent o ccurrence of characteristic signs of depression. Altogether 64 patient s (26%) were suspected of having poststroke depression. A consulting p sychiatrist or neurophysychologist confirmed depression in 60 (94%) pa tients. Depression did not correlate with the clinical or sociodemogra phic background of the patients or the poststroke functional impairmen t. We emphasize that the staff can recognize poststroke depression by using cognitive, complementary, empathic, and integrative responses.