Nov. 11, 2009 Depression occurs in as many as one-third of
patients after a stroke, and women are at somewhat higher risk,
according to a large new review of studies. Post-stroke
depression is associated with greater disability, reduced
quality of life and an increased risk of death. The systematic
review appears in the November-December issue of the journal
Psychosomatics. Brittany Poynter, M.D., and colleagues from the
University of Toronto looked at 56 studies on stroke and
depression comprising more than 75,000 people, about 12,000 of
them women. The time between the stroke and onset of depression
ranged from less than two weeks to 15 years. In women, rates of
post-stroke depression ranged from about 6 percent to 78
percent, while in men depression rates ranged from 4.7 percent
to about 65 percent. These findings are important, Poynter said,
because women who have had a stroke generally do more poorly
than men. They tend to have higher rates of disability and
longer hospitalization times. The authors say