engleski

Prevalence and characteristics of emotional disturbances in ischemic stroke patients

Emotional disturbances in stroke patients may unfavorably affect the process of rehabilitation and longterm outcome of the disease. The aim of the study was to assess the prevalence of emotional disturbances and their characteristics in our stroke patients, according to hemispheric lateralization of the cerebral lesion (as recorded by computed tomography), patient sex, and grade of neurologic deficit (as assessed by Rankin scale). The study included 50 patients (29 men and 21 women, mean age 62, 52+-7, 07 and 64, 62+-11, 83 years, respectively) who had suffered ischemic stroke 3 weeks to 6 months before the study. The Corwn-Crisp experience index including six scales: scales of anxiety, phobia, obsession, somatization, depression and hysteria, was used for detection of emotional disturbances. Results showed a high prevalence of emotional disturbances in the study group. Depression was most common (72% of study patients), followed by generalized anxiety (58%)and phobic disturbances (66%). According to hemispheric lateralization of the cerebral lesion, a more intense emotional response was found in case of right hemisphere lesions, however, the difference was statistically significant on the scales of anxiety (p<0, 05), depression (p<0, 05) and phobia (p<0, 01).According to the neurologic deficit severity, an increasing tendency in the prevalence of emotional disturbances was observed with the increasing severity of neurologic deficit. Study results showed a high prevalence of emotional disturbances after stroke, suggesting a hypothesis on their combined etiology.

emotional disturbances; stroke patients; cerebral lesion

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