- About 60 percent of survivors experience depression within two decades.
Stroke survivors are almost three times more likely to suffer from depression than their healthy peers, according to new research.
Experts said the number of people struggling with their mental health is much higher than previously thought.
They warned that more needs to be done to help patients navigate life in the years after having a stroke.
The King’s College London study found that nine out of ten cases of depression occurred within five years of surviving a stroke, indicating a key time for health intervention.
They looked at the incidence of mild and severe depression among 6,600 stroke survivors in the London boroughs of Lambeth and North Southwark.
Experts said the number of people struggling with their mental health is much higher than previously thought.
About 60 percent of stroke survivors would experience depression in the next two decades, compared with 22 percent of the general population, according to findings published in The Lancet Regional Health, Europe.
Yanzhong Wang, Professor of Population Health Statistics at King’s College London, said: “Depression is common in stroke survivors, but our research shows it persists for much longer than previously thought.
‘We know that depression can limit a stroke survivor’s mobility, including simple things like walking and holding objects, and can also increase the risk of death.
“With the aging population in the UK and an increase in the proportion of older adults, it is essential that we plan for increasing healthcare demands to address the expected increase in stroke cases.”
There are 1.3 million stroke survivors in the UK, and around 100,000 suffer from strokes each year.
The study population was 55.4 percent male with a mean age of 68 years. About 62.5 per cent were of white ethnicity and 29.7 per cent were of black ethnicity.
Depression can limit a stroke survivor’s mobility, including simple things like walking and holding objects, according to one expert.
While post-stroke depression is common after a stroke and is associated with poor functional ability and higher mortality, the study found that major depression tended to occur earlier after stroke, had a longer duration and reappeared more quickly than mild depression.
Corresponding author Lu Liu said: “Quality of life is important for stroke survivors, as there is evidence that depressed survivors have a reduced survival rate.”
‘There are many reasons why this could be, including disruptions in the survivor’s social life, reduced physical capacity, and inflammatory disorders seen in depressed patients.
“More clinical attention should be given to patients with depression lasting more than a year due to the high risk of experiencing persistent depression.”
