How Do We Alleviate Long-Term Psychological Distress for Surrogate Decision Makers?

Our perspective as clinicians is focused on the patient; however, when patients present with severe stroke, we rely on family or surrogate decision-makers to assist with decisions regarding life-sustaining treatment. In this issue of Neurology®, Morgenstern et al.¹ report on long-term psychological distress among surrogate decision-makers for patients with severe stroke. The authors used validated measures of post-traumatic stress, anxiety, and depression among family surrogate decision-makers and found between 17% and 28% of surrogates to have high scores on measures of psychological distress. One or more high levels of the psychological outcomes were found in 17%-43% of surrogates, 2 or more were found in 12%-27%, and all 3 were found in 5%-16% of surrogates. The study population included a biethnic community of predominantly nonimmigrant Mexican American (MA) and non-Hispanic White (NHW) persons, and outcomes were evaluated by ethnicity. Symptoms of post-traumatic stress remained worse among MA surrogates in the fully adjusted model; however, they were no longer significant for anxiety or depression after adjustment. The authors conclude that psychological distress is common among family surrogate decision-makers in the year after stroke and may be worse among MA surrogates. The authors propose that efforts are needed to support family members of all ethnic groups after severe stroke.