Abstract Details

Title Does Cerebral White Matter Disease Predict Post-stroke Fatigue or Depression in an Afro-Caribbean Cohort?

Topic Cerebrovascular Disease and Interventional Neurology

Presentation(s) P3 - Poster Session 3 (5:30 PM-6:30 PM)

Poster/Presentation
Number 5-015

Background Fatigue and depression frequently occur after ischemic stroke and are associated with worse Health-Related Quality of Life. While there has been research on the correlation between the burden of WMD and the onset of depressive symptoms, this relationship has yet to be validated in patients with stroke from minority groups.

Objective To determine the relationship between white matter disease (WMD) severity and the development of post-stroke fatigue or depression in patients from minority groups.

Design/Methods An IRB-approved retrospective, cross-sectional study. The study sampled a cohort of patients aged ≥18 years old who had stroke within the last 3 years and were assessed with standardized questionnaires for fatigue (Fatigue Assessment Scale [FAS], range 10-50) and depression (Beck’s Depression Inventory, range 0-63). Patients with available MRI were evaluated using a validated visual scale to grade WMD (Fazekas scale, range 0-3). Grading was conducted blinded to patient's fatigue and depression scores. The collected ordinal data presented a non-parametric distribution thus was analyzed using the Spearman correlation coefficient.

Results Of 72 patients with available MRI, 96% were African or Caribbean; mean age = 66, median FAS score = 19 (IQR 14-26), and median BDI score = 6 (IQR 2-11). The prevalence of stroke-related disability (modified ranking scale ≥ 2) was 38%. Within the Fazekas grading, the score was 0 in 12.4%, 1 in 41.4%, 2 in 31.7%, and 3 in 13.8%. Spearman coefficients showed non significant associations between WMD severity and either depression (R_s=0.058, p=0.62, 95%CI -0.17,0.29) or fatigue (R_s=0.059, p=0.62, 95% CI -0.18,0.30).

Conclusions Our results suggest no association between WMD severity and the development of post-stroke fatigue or depression in an Afro-Caribbean population. However, the lack of statistical significance might be due to limited sample size and patient heterogeneity, since few patients exhibited high fatigue and depression scores. Further research is needed to confirm these findings.

Authors/Disclosures
Jonathan Solis Ramirez, MD PRESENTER	Dr. Solis Ramirez has nothing to disclose.
Yohannes S. Mulatu, MD (SUNY Downstate)	Dr. Mulatu has nothing to disclose.
Nadege Gilles (SUNY Downstate Medical Center)	Ms. Gilles has nothing to disclose.
Steven Levine, MD, FAHA (SUNY Downstate Medical Center)	Dr. Levine has received personal compensation in the range of $500-$4,999 for serving as an Editor, Associate Editor, or Editorial Advisory Board Member for MEDLINK. Dr. Levine has received personal compensation in the range of $50,000-$99,999 for serving as an Expert Witness for Law Firms. The institution of Dr. Levine has received research support from NIH.