Abstract
[Objective] We aimed at ascertaining the actual situation of post stroke depression (PSD) in Japan by implementing a multicenter study on prevalence, the time of onset and course, and risk factors for PSD, an area of research not previously reported, in Japanese patients.
[Subject and Methods] We assessed each of 373 subjects in the subacute–chronic phase of stroke (1 month to 1 year after the onset of stroke), 159 subjects in the acute phase (2 weeks to 1 month after the onset of stroke), and 12 subjects with endogenous depression based on the criteria for DSM–IV–TR diagnoses and the HAM–D (Hamilton Depression Rating Scale). We also analyzed the prevalence, pathological state, and risk factors for PSD in the subacute–chronic phase.
[Results] PSD was diagnosed in 18.2% of the patients in the acute phase and 24.1% of those in the subacute–chronic phase. The risk of PSD in female patients in the subacute–chronic phase was shown to be significantly higher than that in men, but there were no detectable risk factors in other groups. While rates of depressed mood and the severity of the suicide ideation in PSD patients were lower than in those with endogenous depression in the HAM–D sub–analysis, the severity of loss of motivation in those with PSD was comparable to that associated with endogenous depression.
[Conclusion] PSD in the chronic phase shows a different pathology from that of endogenous depression and has a low incidence as compared to the frequencies described in previous reports from the West. Furthermore, it is noteworthy that, in diagnosis and treatment, there is no clear correlation between the onset of PSD and lesion location.
