High frequency of newly identified depression; many with depression not appropriately treated
FRIDAY, March 30 (HealthDay News) -- The frequency of depression and newly identified depression rates are similar following a stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA), according to a study published online March 29 in Stroke.
Nada El Husseini, M.D., M.H.S., from the Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C., and colleagues conducted a secondary analysis of a prospective cohort from the Adherence Evaluation After Ischemic Stroke Longitudinal (AVAIL) study. Depression and medication use were evaluated in 1,450 patients with ischemic stroke and 397 with TIA, between three and 12 months after hospitalization. Persistent depression was defined as having a Patient Health Questionnaire-8 score ≥10 at both time points.
The researchers found that, at three and 12 months, the proportional frequency of depression after stroke and TIA was similar (three months: 17.9 and 14.3 percent, respectively; P = 0.09; 12 months: 16.4 and 12.8 percent, respectively; P = 0.08). The rates of newly identified depression between three and 12 months were also similar (stroke, 8.7 percent; TIA, 6.2 percent [P = 0.12]). Persistent depression was present in 9.2 and 7.6 percent of those with stroke and TIA, respectively. At both time points, a majority of individuals with persistent depression were not using antidepressants (stroke, 67.9 percent; TIA, 70.0 percent).
"Both subjects with stroke and those with TIA had a similarly high proportional frequency and frequency of newly identified depression between three and 12 months after hospitalization, but a high proportion of persistent depression in these two groups was not appropriately treated," the authors write.
Several authors disclosed financial ties to pharmaceutical companies, including Bristol-Myers Squibb and Sanofi Pharmaceuticals, both of which funded the AVAIL project.
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