Characteristics of anxiety and psychological well-being in chronic post-stroke patients.
OBJECTIVE
Anxiety and depression are common psychological conditions in post-stroke patients. In the present study, their relation with perceived quality of life and psychophysical well-being was investigated.


METHODS
In the present cross-sectional study, chronic post-stroke patients (n=81; average years from stroke=4 ± 4.6) were assessed with the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), the 36-item Short-Form Healthy Survey (SF-36) and the Psychological General Well-Being Index (PGWBI), as well as a brief neuropsychological assessment focused on the thinking ability and executive functions.


RESULTS
Higher levels of anxiety compared to depressive symptoms were found. Hierarchical multiple regressions indicated that SF-36 predicts neither anxiety nor depression, and PGWBI subscales only partially.


CONCLUSIONS
Post-stroke anxiety can be a largely observed psychological distress in chronic patients: this pattern would be interpreted in relation to patients' expectations about their health status during a rehabilitation follow-up. SF-36 and PGWBI questionnaires did not provide satisfactory and reliable indexes: the relation between anxiety and both quality of life and psychological well-being needs further exploration.
Psychology Research Laboratory, IRCCS Istituto Auxologico Italiano, Ospedale San Giuseppe, Piancavallo, VCO, Italy.
Guido Edoardo
GE
D'Aniello
Psychology Research Laboratory, IRCCS Istituto Auxologico Italiano, Ospedale San Giuseppe, Piancavallo, VCO, Italy. Electronic address: f.scarpina@auxologico.it.
Federica
F
Scarpina
Division of Neurology and Neuro-Rehabilitation, IRCCS Istituto Auxologico Italiano, Ospedale San Giuseppe, Piancavallo (VCO), Piancavallo, VB, Italy; Department of Neurosciences, University of Turin, Turin, Italy.
Alessandro
A
Mauro
Psychology Research Laboratory, IRCCS Istituto Auxologico Italiano, Ospedale San Giuseppe, Piancavallo, VCO, Italy.
Ileana
I
Mori
Psychology Research Laboratory, IRCCS Istituto Auxologico Italiano, Ospedale San Giuseppe, Piancavallo, VCO, Italy; Department of Psychology, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milan, Italy.
Gianluca
G
Castelnuovo
Division of Neurology and Neuro-Rehabilitation, IRCCS Istituto Auxologico Italiano, Ospedale San Giuseppe, Piancavallo (VCO), Piancavallo, VB, Italy.
Matteo
M
Bigoni
Division of Neurology and Neuro-Rehabilitation, IRCCS Istituto Auxologico Italiano, Ospedale San Giuseppe, Piancavallo (VCO), Piancavallo, VB, Italy.
Silvia
S
Baudo
Psychology Research Laboratory, IRCCS Istituto Auxologico Italiano, Ospedale San Giuseppe, Piancavallo, VCO, Italy; Department of Psychology, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milan, Italy.
Enrico
E
Molinari
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001007:Anxiety / Q000209:etiology*; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003863:Depression / Q000209:etiology*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011788:Quality of Life; D020521:Stroke / Q000150:complications* / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
Anxiety; Cognition; Depression; Quality of life; Stroke; Well-being