DEPRESSION FOLLOWING TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY - A 1 YEAR LONGITUDINAL-STUDY

A group of 66 patients hospitalized for the treatment of closed head i njury, were assessed for the presence of mood disorders during their h ospital admission and at 3, 6 and 12 months follow-up. A total 28 pati ents met DSM-III-R diagnostic criteria for major depression at some ti me during the study (17 in the acute stage, 11 during follow-up). The mean duration of major depression was 4.7 months. However, there appea red to be a group of transiently depressed patients (41%) who where de pressed inhospital but were no longer depressed at 3 months follow-up. Throughout the follow-up period, major depression showed a strong rel ationship with poor social functioning. There was not, however, a cons istent relationship between depression and quantitative measures of ei ther physical or cognitive impairment. Location of the brain lesion wa s associated with the development of major depression only in the acut e stage. Transient depressive syndromes were associated with left dors olateral frontal and/or left basal ganglia lesions.