The Association Between Stroke, Depression, and 5-Year Mortality Among Very Old People
Background and Purpose— Depression after stroke has been associated with increased mortality, but little is known about this association among very old people. Methods— A population-based study among people ≥85 years of age was conducted in northern Sweden and Finland, comprising cross-sectional ass...
Published in: | Stroke |
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Main Authors: | , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health)
2013
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Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1161/strokeaha.113.002202 https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/full/10.1161/STROKEAHA.113.002202 |
Summary: | Background and Purpose— Depression after stroke has been associated with increased mortality, but little is known about this association among very old people. Methods— A population-based study among people ≥85 years of age was conducted in northern Sweden and Finland, comprising cross-sectional assessments and subsequent survival data. The 452 individuals who had completed the Geriatric Depression Scale-15 assessment were selected. Depression was defined as a score of ≥5 on the geriatric depression scale. Results— Of those with a history of stroke, 38 of 88 (43.2%) people were depressed, and 11 of the 38 (28.9%) were treated with antidepressants, compared with 91 of 364 (25.0%) depressed ( P =0.001) and 17 of 91 (18.7%) treated with antidepressants among those without stroke. Having a history of stroke and ongoing depression was associated with increased 5-year mortality compared with having only stroke (hazard ratio, 1.90; confidence interval, 1.15–3.13), having only depression (hazard ratio, 1.59; confidence interval, 1.03–2.45), and compared with having neither stroke nor depression (hazard ratio, 2.50; confidence interval, 1.69–3.69). Having only stroke without depression did not increase mortality compared with having neither stroke nor depression. Conclusions— A history of stroke was associated with increased mortality among very old people but only among those who were also depressed. Depression seemed to be underdiagnosed and undertreated. |
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