Comprehensive psychological and neurological rehabilitation for post-stroke depression: A retrospective comparative study with biomarker exploration

Table 1 Baseline demographic and clinical characteristics of study participants, mean ± SD/n (%)

Characteristic	CRG (n = 96)	CG (n = 82)	P value
Age (years)	61.5 ± 12.8	63.2 ± 11.5	0.352
Female	52 (54.2)	43 (52.4)	0.809
BMI (kg/m2)	24.8 ± 3.6	25.2 ± 3.4	0.452
Education (years)	10.2 ± 3.8	9.8 ± 4.0	0.490
Married	80 (83.3)	68 (82.9)	0.946
Living alone	14 (14.6)	13 (15.9)	0.814
Employed	38 (39.6)	32 (39.0)	0.939
Hypertension	60 (62.5)	50 (61.0)	0.835
Type 2 diabetes	28 (29.2)	22 (26.8)	0.714
Hyperlipidemia	30 (31.3)	25 (30.5)	0.906
Atrial fibrillation	12 (12.5)	10 (12.2)	0.951
Prior stroke/TIA	18 (18.8)	14 (17.1)	0.775
Tobacco use	28 (29.2)	22 (26.8)	0.714
Baseline HAMD-17	18.2 ± 5.0	18.6 ± 5.3	0.615
Baseline SDS	62.5 ± 8.8	63.2 ± 9.0	0.603
Baseline NIHSS	8.2 ± 3.2	8.6 ± 3.5	0.445
Baseline MBI	45.2 ± 15.5	43.8 ± 14.8	0.534
Baseline MoCA	21.5 ± 4.2	21.2 ± 4.5	0.650
Family involvement (FSQ)	31.8 ± 7.2	29.5 ± 8.0	0.068
Antidepressant use	28 (29.2)1	24 (29.3)2	0.987

¹Comprehensive rehabilitation group: Venlafaxine XR 75-150 mg/day, initiated per protocol for Hamilton Depression Rating Scale-17 ≥ 20 with insufficient response at week 4.

²Control group: Antidepressants (principally sertraline 50-100 mg/day or venlafaxine XR 75-150 mg/day) prescribed at physician discretion. Between-group difference in antidepressant use rate was not statistically significant (P = 0.987).

CRG: Comprehensive rehabilitation group; CG: Control group; BMI: Body mass index; TIA: Transient ischemic attack; HAMD-17: Hamilton Depression Rating Scale-17; SDS: Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale; NIHSS: National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale; MBI: Modified Barthel Index; MoCA: Montreal Cognitive Assessment; FSQ: Family support questionnaire.