Prevalence and predictors of post stroke depression among elderly stroke survivors.

OBJECTIVE To identify the prevalence of post stroke depression (PSD) and their socio-demographic and clinical predictors among elderly stroke survivors after hospital discharge to home. METHODS In this cross-sectional study, 90 elderly stroke survivors were evaluated 14 days after hospital discharge with the following scales: National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale, Functional Independence Measure, and Geriatric Depression Scale - 15 items (GDS-15). PSD was defined as a score > 5 on GDS-15. After univariate analyses, a multivariate logistic regression model was built to identify independent predictors of PSD. RESULTS Fourteen days after hospital discharge, 27.7% (95%CI 18.1 to 37.2) of elderly stroke survivors had PSD. Functional dependence was the only independent predictor of PSD (OR: 1.04 95%CI: 1.01 to 1.09; p = 0.02). CONCLUSION After stroke, depressive symptoms are common among elderly survivors. The degree of functional dependency is the main predictor of PSD among elderly stroke patients in Brazil.