Women More Likely to Be Depressed After Stroke

Friday November 13, 2009

Women are at somewhat greater risk of suffering from depression following a stroke than are men, according to a new review of the existing medical literature.

Brittany Poynter and colleagues from the University of Toronto examined 56 studies related to stroke and depression, consisting of more than 75,000 people, 12,000 of which were women. The time between the stroke and the onset of depression in these people ranged from between under two weeks to 15 years.

In women, rates of depression after stroke ranged from about 6% to 78%, while in men rates ranged from 4.7% to 65%.

This finding is significant, according to Poynter, because depression after a stroke is associated with greater disability, reduced quality of life and an increased risk of death.

The authors say these higher rates of depression in women might occur because there are higher rates of depression in women in general, not just in those with stroke. They might also occur because women have less access to care.

Regarding treatment, Poynter says that "A multimodal approach may be the most effective," with treatments like exercise, physical rehabilitation and support groups being utilized in addition to the standard treatments of medication and counseling.

Poynter also suggests that stroke patients should be routinely screened for depression, rather than taking a wait-and-see approach.

The review appears in the November issue of the journal Psychosomatics.