Development and initial validation of a clinical measure to assess early symptoms of post‐stroke depression in the acute stroke patient

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To evaluate a measure specifically developed to clinically assess early symptoms of poststroke depression (PSD) in acute stroke patients. BACKGROUND: Poststroke depression is associated with elevated rates of morbidity and mortality following a mild-to-moderate stroke. Measures currently used to assess depression in acute poststroke patients can lack the clinical specificity necessary to detect symptoms within 30 days poststroke. DESIGN: A two-round Delphi design was used to estimate symptom consensus. METHODS: Three panels, healthcare professionals (N = 74), experts (N = 16) and acute poststroke patients (N = 40), evaluated an initial set of symptom-items systematically developed by the research team. RESULTS: Our study yielded consensus for 29 symptom-items. Additional symptoms recommended by acute poststroke patients increased the final number of symptoms to 35. CONCLUSIONS: We developed a specific measure of early symptoms of PSD in acute stroke patients with good content validity. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: The specific clinical relevance of our findings lies in the consensus of health professionals, the Delphi panel and patients regarding core areas of clinical assessment during the acute poststroke phase. And our findings may draw attention to the need to assess and treat acute stroke patients with early symptoms of PSD.