Hae-Yeon Park, MD
Clincial Assistant Professor
Bucheon St Mary's Hospital, The Catholic University of Korea
Wonmi-gu, Bucheon-si, Kyonggi-do, Republic of Korea
Seung Yup Song, MD
Doctor
Bucheon St Mary's Hospital
Bucheon-si,, Kyonggi-do, Republic of Korea
Sun Im, MD
Professor
Bucheon St Mary's Hospital
Wonmi-gu, Bucheon-si, Kyonggi-do, Republic of Korea
Jisoo Park, MD
Clinical fellow
Bucheon St Mary's Hospital
Wonmi-gu, Bucheon-si, Kyonggi-do, Republic of Korea
Geun-Young Park, MD
Professor
Bucheon St Mary's Hospital
Wonmi-gu, Bucheon-si, Kyonggi-do, Republic of Korea
Post-stroke depression, affecting approximately 39-52% of stroke survivors, is a common yet one of the serious complications after stroke. It is closely associated with various health issues, including chronic diseases, increased morbidity, and mortality. Recently, there have been studies reporting the association between depression and sarcopenia, which is defined by progressive loss of muscle mass, strength, and/or function. However, studies on the relationship between post-stroke depression and sarcopenia are scarce. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the association between post-stroke depression and sarcopenia.
Design:
This study was a retrospective observational study. Patients who experienced stroke from September 2022 through September 2023 were included in the study. Dual-Energy X-ray Absorptiometry (DXA) was performed to measure appendicular skeletal muscle mass (ASM). Sarcopenia was defined as those with ASM/(height)2 below 7.0kg/m2 (male) and 5.4kg/m2 (female). Depression was assessed using the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI).
Results:
A total of 175 post-stroke patients were included in the analysis, with sarcopenia affecting 64.6% of the participants. Those with sarcopenia were represented with poorer berg balance score (p< 0.001) and cognition (p=0.02), reduced hand grip strength (27.4 ± 10.3 vs 17.2 ± 6.2, p< 0.001), and more assistance with activities of daily living (ADL) (p=0.001). However, depression measured by BDI did not significantly differ between patients with and without sarcopenia (p=0.467). The Pearson correlation test revealed no significant association between BDI scores and ASM/h2, body mass index, balance, cognition, or ADLs. Higher BDI scores were associated with older age (p=0.013) and decreased grip strength (p=0.006).
Conclusions:
In this study, post-stroke depression was not directly correlated with muscle mass as measured by DXA. However, a potential correlation was observed between depression and muscle strength, as assessed through hand grip strength tests. Future studies with a larger population are needed to support the result.
