Abstract
In a prospective study of mood disorders in stroke patients, variables obtained during the acute hospitalization were examined for their relationship to outcome at either 3-or 6-month follow-up. Distance of the lesion on computerized axial tomography scan from the frontal pole in patients with left anterior infarcts was significantly associated with severity of depression at 3 and 6 months poststroke. In addition, intellectual and functional physical impairment in-hospital were significantly correlated with severity of depression and social functioning scores at 3 and 6 months poststroke. Thus, patients who develop depression during the first 6 months poststroke may be responding to the severity of their impairment whereas the patients who develop depressions during the acute poststroke period may have a neuroanatomical and neurophysiological basis for their depression. Although other explanations might be proposed, the dynamic nature of the relationship between depression and associated variables during the first 6 months poststroke indicates that etiology of poststroke depression may be different depending upon the time of onset of the depression after brain injury.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 221-226 |
Number of pages | 6 |
Journal | Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease |
Volume | 173 |
Issue number | 4 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Apr 1985 |
Externally published | Yes |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Psychiatry and Mental health