March 29th, 2012
Podcast 150: Depression (and antidepressant use) after stroke or TIA
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After stroke or transient ischemic attack, depression is more common than among the general population, and the risk for depression extends beyond the early time period after the event.
More alarmingly, less than a third of those with persistent depression — defined as depression detected both at 3 and 12 months after the cerebrovascular event — receive antidepressant medication.
We offer an interview with Dr. Nada El Husseini, first author of a study published online in Stroke that presents the data supporting those observations.
Link:
Stroke abstract (free)
One Response to “Podcast 150: Depression (and antidepressant use) after stroke or TIA”
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Like any chronic illness, stroke with obvious and persistent disability are high risk for depression. What this study has not high lighted the risk factors for depression among those with TIA. These are the subset of population most likely to be missed for depression screening by their physician at the clinical encounters.The most obvious reason being lack of permanent residual disability. The finding of depression at the same scale as in stroke is a surprising finding, which needs to be explained by the investigators of this study. Has the authors ruled out any confounding factors which could have given a bias result? Is it possible that as compared to real world scenario, in a research scenario after 3 and 12 months of the cerebrovascular events the TIA group there is unmasking of depression symptoms which may have been like a tip of iceberg prior to TIA.
It would be interesting to do further randomized study of selected cases with no prior evidence – history, as well as any therapy in the past for depression- prior to the event to determine the risk factor for persistent depression among those with TIA.