Predictors of Depression at One Year Post-stroke in Older Adults

The prevalence and determinates of depression in 67 older adults were assessed at 1 year post-stroke. The sample had an average age of 74 years ( SD = 7, range = 60–87 years) at the time of their stroke and 52% were female. The relative contribution of demographic (gender, age), medical (history of previous stroke, hemispheric location of stroke), two measures of functional independence (Barthel Activities of Daily Living (ADL) Index and Nottingham Extended ADL Index) and aspects of cognitive functioning (IQ, attention, verbal memory and verbal fluency) to depression (Geriatric Depression Scale) was investigated. Results indicated that 51% of patients had impairment in activities of daily living, and 33% reported clinically significant levels of depression. Prevalence of cognitive impairment ranged from 28% on a measure of basic cognitive functioning through to 87% on a measure of complex attention. The results from a hierarchical multiple regression analysis showed that the combination of variables explained 40% of the variance in depression scores. In addition, the two individual variables of history of previous stroke and functional independence made significant unique contributions to the variance in depression scores. These results demonstrate the wide variety of factors involved and provide support for a biopsychosocial model of post-stroke depression.