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The following is a summary of “Association of depressive symptom severity and suicidal ideation with health-related quality of life among stroke survivors, NHANES 2005-2018,” published in the June 2024 issue of Psychiatry by Chen et al.

Stroke is a significant health concern in the U.S., impacting patients both physically and through its effects on HRQoL, including neuropsychiatric outcomes such as depressive symptoms and suicidal thoughts.

Researchers conducted a retrospective study to assess the correlation of QoL with depressive symptoms and thoughts of suicide in people who have had strokes.

They included 1,302 U.S. stroke survivors with a mean age of 64.4 years and 56.0% female from the U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2005-2018). Using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), patients were analyzed to see how depressive symptoms and suicidal thoughts affected their QoL. The relationship between QoL and health conditions was explored using the CDC HRQoL-4 survey. The analysis adjusted for sociodemographic and health conditions.

The results showed that around 40.7% of survivors had mild depressive symptoms, and 18.8% exhibited major depressive symptoms. The idea of suicide was reported by 8.1% of patients. Mild and major depressive symptoms, along with suicidal thoughts, were linked to poorer general health status, more physically and mentally unhealthy days, and more days with activity limitations. A clear dose-response relationship between PHQ-9 scores and HRQoL outcomes (All P for trend <0.001). Those with suicidal thoughts had even more physically and mentally unhealthy days and activity limitation days.  

Investigators concluded that depressive symptoms and thoughts of suicide were linked to poorer QoL in stroke survivors in the U.S., emphasizing the importance of thorough mental health assessments and treatments to enhance overall well-being.

Source: sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0165178124001768