Reducing depressive or anxiety symptoms in post-stroke patients: Pilot trial of a constructive integrative psychosocial intervention
Abstract
Background: About 30% of stroke survivors clinically have depressive symptoms at some point following stroke and anxiety prevalence is around 20-25%.
Objective: The purpose of this brief report is to evaluate a pilot trial of a constructive integrative psychosocial intervention (CIPI) over standard care in post-stroke depression or anxiety.
Methods: Patients were randomly assigned to either CIPI (n = 23) or standard care (n = 19). Patients were assessed using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale at the 1st, 3rd, and 6th months to monitor changes of mood.
Results: A Wilcoxon signed-rank test indicated that compared to admission baseline, patients with the intervention had significantly normal post-stroke depression symptom levels at the 1st, 3rd, and 6th months (P < 0.005).
Conclusion: CIPI appears to be of incremental value in treating depression as well as anxiety in subacute care.
Keywords:
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).