Assessment of depression and anxiety and their relationship with functional status in patients with stroke

Aims: This study aimed to investigate the anxiety and depression levels and the relationship between functional status and depression, anxiety, pain, and quality of life in stroke patients. Methods: 65 stroke patients and 65 healthy controls were involved in the study. After recording the sociodemographic characteristics of all patients, anxiety, and depression levels were evaluated with the hospital anxiety depression (HAD) scale, and the quality of life with the Nottingham Health Profile (NHP) questionnaire. In stroke patients, functional status was evaluated with the functional ambulation categories (FAC), disease stages with the Brannstrom Staging system, and pain intensity with the visual analogue scale (VAS). Results: Anxiety levels were high in 33 patients (50.77%) in the stroke group and 16 patients (24.60%) in the control group. Depression levels were high in 35 patients (53.85%) in the stroke group and 25 patients (38,46%) in the control group. In the stroke group, the HAD anxiety, HAD depression, and HAD total scores of patients were statistically significantly higher compared to the control group (p:0.036, p:0.013, p: 0.010,respectively). When the quality of life of the patients was examined, the NHP energy level was statistically significantly lower in the stroke group (p:0.008). Examination of the stroke patients by their functional ambulation levels revealed statistically lower HAD anxiety, HAD depression, and HAD total scores with higher functional status (p:0.003, p: