Abstract Details

Title Brain Health Screening in Post-stroke Care

Topic Cerebrovascular Disease and Interventional Neurology

Presentation(s) P9 - Poster Session 9 (5:00 PM-6:00 PM)

Poster/Presentation
Number 5-001

Objective To complete stroke clinic brain health screenings.

Background Components of brain health, such as diet, mental health, physical activity, and cognition are challenging to assess within the time constraints of a routine clinic visit but are important in post-stroke care. Validated scales administered by study staff may provide a feasible, standardized assessment of brain health.

Design/Methods A 30-minute assessment was administered to post-stroke outpatients at an urban academic medical center by study staff. Stroke or TIA survivors aged >/= 55 years with no preceding dementia or use of memory medications were included. Participants completed the MIND Diet Screener, Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D), Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item (GAD-7), International Physical Activity Questionnaire - Short Form (IPAQ-SF), and Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA).

Results Over three months, 234 patients were screened prior to clinic. 132 were ineligible, 62 were not approached due to insufficient staffing, 22 declined, and 18 were enrolled. Participants were 50% female, 61% white, 33% black, 6% other, and 6% hispanic. 50% of participants scored </=7.5 on the MIND Diet Screener. 44% did not report any moderate or vigorous exercise over the span of the preceding week that met AHA guidelines, excluding walking. 17% reported no exercise at all, including walking for at least 10 minutes. 67% endorsed anxiety symptoms, with 5% meeting criteria for mild anxiety. All participants endorsed at least one depressive symptom. 89% met criteria for cognitive impairment (MoCA <26) with average MoCA score of 21.44.

Conclusions In this feasibility study of post-stroke survivors, depressive symptoms, cognitive impairment, and anxiety were highly prevalent. Most participants were not consuming high levels of the recommended MIND diet food components. Completing a brain health assessment comprised of validated instruments to assess post-stroke cognition, anxiety, depression, diet, and physical activity generally took 30 minutes and was feasible to be administered by study staff.

Authors/Disclosures
Brandon Deguzman PRESENTER	Mr. Deguzman has nothing to disclose.
Hee Soo Jung, MD	Dr. Jung has nothing to disclose.
Jessica Joyce	Ms. Joyce has nothing to disclose.
Dixon Yang, MD (Rush University Medical Center)	Dr. Yang has nothing to disclose.
Puja Agarwal, PhD, MBA (Rush University Medical Center)	Dr. Agarwal has received personal compensation in the range of $500-$4,999 for serving on a Speakers Bureau for Advocate Health. The institution of Dr. Agarwal has received research support from NIH/NIA.
Neelum T. Aggarwal, MD (Rush Alzheimer's Disease Center)	Dr. Aggarwal has nothing to disclose.
Laurel J. Cherian, MD, FAAN (Rush University Medical Center)	The institution of Dr. Cherian has received research support from NIH.