Comparison of spontaneously recovered versus nonrecovered patients with poststroke depression

We followed 16 patients who developed depression immediately after a stroke for 6 months. By that time, six patients showed no depression (recovered group), while 10 patients were still depressed (nonrecovered group). There were no significant differences in demographic variables and social functioning between the groups, but the nonrecovered group showed less improve-ment in cognitive function and more physical impairments. Patients in the nonrecovered group had mainly cortical lesions, while those in the recovered group had mainly subcortical and posterior circulation strokes. (Stroke 1988;19:1491-1496) A ffective disturbance has been recognized for L \ many years to be a common sequela of J. \. cerebral infarction.1 Recent empirical stud-ies have demonstrated that the frequency of depres-sion is approximately 50 % among hospitalized post-stroke populations2-5 and approximately 30 % among outpatient stroke populations.6 We7-9 have consistently found a strong relatio