Poststroke Depression in Clinical Practice: The Ability of Staff to Recognize Depressive Mood

Depression is the commonest emotional reaction after stroke. In earlier studies, diagnosis of depression was based on structured depression tests. So far there have been no reports in which the diagnosis of depression 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 Department of Neurology at Kuopio University Hospital during 1988-89. All the information was collected retrospectively from medical records. Depression in patients was suspected by the staff because of the recurrent occurrence of characteristic signs of depression. Altogether 64 patients (26%) were suspected of having poststroke depression. A consulting psychiatrist or neuropsychologist confirmed depression in 60 (94%) patients. Depression did not correlate with the clinical or sociodemographic background of the patients or the poststroke functional impairment. We emphasize that the staff can recognize poststroke depression by using cognitive, complementary, empathic, and integrative responses.