Racial Variation in the Association Between Domains of Depressive Symptomatology and Functional Recovery in Stroke Survivors

• Published in: Journal of racial and ethnic health disparities 2023-06, Vol.10 (3), p.1058-1066
• Main Authors: Lau, Stephen C. L., Drake, Bettina F., Sanders-Thompson, Vetta L., Baum, Carolyn M.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Affective symptoms; Black people; Depression - psychology; Discharge; Epidemiology; Health disparities; Humans; Ischemia; Length of stay; Marital status; Medically Unexplained Symptoms; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Mental depression; Observational studies; Positive emotions; Psychosocial factors; Psychosocial intervention; Quality of Life Research; Quantitative psychology; Race; Racial differences; Recovery; Recovery (Medical); Recovery of function; Regression analysis; Rehabilitation; Social Inequality; Social Structure; Sociocultural factors; Sociodemographics; Somatic symptoms; Stroke; Stroke - epidemiology; Stroke Rehabilitation; Survival; Survivor; Survivors - psychology; Underserved populations; Variables
• ISSN: 2197-3792; 2196-8837
• DOI: 10.1007/s40615-022-01293-8

Objective The purpose of the study was to investigate the relationships between various domains of depressive symptomatology and functional recovery in Black and White stroke survivors. Methods Black ( n  = 181) and White ( n  = 797) stroke survivors from the Stroke Recovery in Underserved Population database were included. Four domains of depressive symptomatology (depressed affect, positive affect, somatic symptoms, interpersonal difficulties) were measured by the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale at discharge; functional recovery was measured by the Functional Independence Measure at discharge and 3-month follow-up. Multivariable linear regression analyses examined the relation between race and functional recovery, and the association between depressive symptomatology and functional recovery by race. Results Three-month functional recovery was greater among White stroke survivors than Black survivors. Affective symptoms of depression predicted poorer functional recovery of White survivors; whereas somatic symptoms predicted poorer functional recovery of Black survivors. Conclusions Domains of depressive symptomatology were differentially associated with poorer functional recovery in Black and White stroke survivors. Psychosocial interventions aimed at alleviating depressive symptomatology have the potential to improve functional recovery in Black and White stroke survivors and should be addressed in planning rehabilitation post-stroke.