Caregivers of people who experience a severe stroke experience high levels of anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress in the first year after the patient leaves the hospital, a new study finds.
The study was led by a team from Michigan Medicine and published Tuesday in Neurology.
In it, researchers say that nearly 30% of the caregivers went on to have major psychological distress in the year after a loved one survived a stroke.
The results come as no surprise, because stroke can have devastating impacts on a person. It can cause permanent disability or death.
“As physicians, we usually concentrate on our patients, and it is important to recognize that caregivers may have long-term consequences from a loved one’s severe illness,” Lewis Morgenstern, MD, a professor of neurology, neurosurgery and emergency medicine at University of Michigan Medical School and professor of epidemiology at the U-M School of Public Health, said in a statement.
The team assessed people who survived strokes as well as their caregivers. The study population was limited to Nueces County, Texas. Study subjects had strokes between April 2016 and October 2020.
Anywhere from 17% to 28% of the caregivers had high scores when they were evaluated for psychological distress. The scientists looked at depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder, specifically. Of the people, 16% experienced all three conditions, they reported.
“This research suggests that depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress are common among family members who make life and death decisions for their loved ones who are very sick,” he said.
Because of where the study was confined to, it could have some specific findings that may not be replicated in a larger study. Post-traumatic stress may be more common in Mexican American caregivers, who made up about two-thirds of the study population, Morgenstern added. Post-traumatic stress, specifically, was worse among Mexican American caregivers compared to white people who were caregivers.
Notably, caregivers’ depression scores improved more rapidly over time for white caregivers.
“There are important support systems for families in hospitals which include nurses, social workers and the patient’s medical team,” Morgenstern said. “The role of family-centered care has received a lot of traction in recent years, and this research emphasizes how important that is.”
