DEPRESSION IN SURVIVORS OF STROKE - A COMMUNITY-BASED STUDY AT PREVALENCE, RISK-FACTORS AND CONSEQUENCES

Depression in survivors of stroke is both common and clinically releva nt. It is associated with excess suffering, handicap, suicidal ideatio n and mortality and it hampers rehabilitation. Most of the data curren tly available are derived from clinical studies. The objective of the present study was to study the prevalence, risk factors and consequenc es of depression in survivors of stroke, in a large (n = 3050) communi ty-based study of older (55-85 years) people in three regions of the N etherlands. Depression was measured using the CES-D scale; histories o f stroke were obtained using self-reports and data from general practi tioners. The study was designed as a case-control study, using both bi variate and multivariate analyses. The prevalence of depression in str oke survivors was 27%, which was significantly higher than the base ra te (OR 2.28, 95% CI 1.61-3.24). Both stroke-related disease characteri stics and psychosocial characteristics of the respondents were predict ors of depression. The consequences of depression were most evident in the realm of disability and impairment of well-being. The patterns of service utilization showed that depressed survivors of stroke are rel atively high users of a wide range of health services.