Prevalence, awareness, and treatment of depression among community-dwelling stroke survivors in Korea

• Published in: Scientific reports Vol. 12; no. 1; pp. 4050 - 7
• Main Authors: Lee, Eung-Joon, Kwon, Oh Deog, Kim, Seung Jae
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 08.03.2022; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 692/617/375/534; 692/699/476/1414; 692/700/478/174; Cross-Sectional Studies; Depression - epidemiology; Depression - etiology; Diuretics; Humanities and Social Sciences; Humans; Independent Living; Mental depression; multidisciplinary; Nutrition surveys; Prevalence; Republic of Korea - epidemiology; Risk Factors; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Stroke; Stroke - complications; Stroke - epidemiology; Stroke - therapy; Survivors; Republic of Korea
• ISSN: 2045-2322; 2045-2322
• DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-08126-y

Post-stroke depression (PSD), a prevalent complication of stroke, causes poor outcomes. However, little is known about its prevalence and management among community-dwelling stroke survivors. Thus, we investigated the prevalence, awareness, and treatment of PSD in a community setting. A cross-sectional study was performed using representative data from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Surveys 2014, 2016, and 2018. A total of 11,122 participants aged ≥ 40 years were categorized, including 343 stroke survivors and 10,779 non-stroke survivors. We then calculated and compared the prevalence, awareness (formal diagnosis of depression by a doctor), and treatment rates of depression between the two groups. Depression was defined as a score ≥ 10 in the nine-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9). Depression was significantly more prevalent among stroke survivors than in non-stroke survivors (22.2% vs. 8.5%, respectively), while the differences in the awareness and treatment rates were insignificant. However, only 46.8% of stroke survivors with PSD were aware of their condition, and only 20.5% were receiving treatment. These results suggest that clinicians should more actively screen for and treat depression among stroke survivors.