Reducing depressive or anxiety symptoms in post-stroke patients: Pilot trial of a constructive integrative psychosocial intervention.

Background: About 30% of stroke survivors clinically have depressive symptoms at some point following stroke and anxiety prevalence is around 20-25%.

Objective: The purpose of this brief report is to evaluate a pilot trial of a constructive integrative psychosocial intervention (CIPI) over standard care in post-stroke depression or anxiety.

Methods: Patients were randomly assigned to either CIPI ( = 23) or standard care ( = 19). Patients were assessed using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale at the 1, 3, and 6 months to monitor changes of mood.

Results: A Wilcoxon signed-rank test indicated that compared to admission baseline, patients with the intervention had significantly normal post-stroke depression symptom levels at the 1, 3, and 6 months ( < 0.005).

Conclusion: CIPI appears to be of incremental value in treating depression as well as anxiety in subacute care.