Poststroke Anxiety is Prevalent at the Population Level, Especially among Socially Deprived and Younger Age Community Stroke Survivors

Abstract

Using a conservative HADS-A cutoff, a high prevalence of definite abnormal anxiety in community stroke survivors is observed. This prevalence increases markedly in younger and more socially deprived stroke survivors.

Factors Associated with Poststroke Anxiety: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…The proportion of females ranged from 20.8% to 59.3% with one study not reporting this data [22]. Six studies had participants with ischaemic stroke [25, 26, 29, 31, 32, 36], nine had both ischaemic and haemorrhagic stroke [18, 19, 21, 23, 27, 28, 30, 35, 37], and nine did not specify the type of stroke [9–11, 17, 20, 22, 24, 33, 34]. 13 studies recruited participants from hospital [9, 10, 21, 25–31, 34–36], four from rehabilitation centres [18, 23, 33, 37], three from the community (including outpatient clinics) [11, 19, 20], and four from the population (such as stroke registers) [17, 22, 24, 32].…”

“…To assess the presence of anxiety, 13 studies used the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS-A) [17–19, 21, 22, 24, 26, 28, 29, 33–36], three studies used the Hamilton Anxiety Scale (HAM-A) [25, 27, 31], one used the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) [23], two used the DSM-IV criteria [10, 32], one used the Irritability Depression and Anxiety scale (IDA) [30], one used the two-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder questionnaire (GAD-2) [20], two used the Posttraumatic Diagnostic Scale (PDS) [9, 37], and one used the PTSD Checklist Specific for a stressor (PCL-S) [11]. The percentage of participants deemed to have PSA using these scales ranged from 6.06% to 56.4%.…”

“…Seven used a cut-off of ≥8 [21, 22, 26, 29, 33, 35, 36], one study used a cut-off of ≥4 [18], one study used a cut-off of ≥5 [28], two studies used a score of 8–10 as possible caseness and a score of ≥11 as probable caseness [17, 24] and two did not specify a cut-off [19, 34]. …”

Associations of Proactive Coping and Self-Efficacy With Psychosocial Outcomes in Individuals After Stroke

“…34 In contrast, individuals after stroke are often confronted with behavioral, cognitive, and emotional effects, which are largely invisible. [35][36][37][38] Consequently, the capacities of individuals after stroke are easily overestimated by relatives and people in the community, resulting in unrealistic expectations about the participation levels of individuals after stroke. 39,40 Therefore, social pressure might determine these participation levels more strongly than selfefficacy.…”

Prevalence of anxiety in people with aphasia after stroke

“…The association of anxiety with younger age may indicate a risk factor to be considered in this population, though results from studies that have considered this in the whole stroke population are inconsistent, with some studies supporting it (Broomfield, Scoular, Welsh, Walters, & Evans, 2013;Castellanos-Pinedo et al, 2011) and others not (Lincoln et al, 2013;Tang et al, 2012).…”