A Review and Conceptual Model of Dopaminergic Contributions to Poststroke Depression.
Ansley Stanfill, Lucas Elijovich, Brandon Baughman and 1 others
PMID 27579957WHAT IT FOUND
About one third of stroke patients are diagnosed with poststroke depression.
Nurses can flag risk in younger female patients, prior depression or stroke, weak social support, and greater disability. The dopamine model is a hypothesis, not a tested treatment.
Key findings
01About one third of stroke patients are diagnosed with poststroke depression, and depression can result in increased mortality, longer recovery times, and reduced quality of life.
02Risk factors include younger female patients, prior depression or stroke, vascular risk factors, weak social support, and greater physical impairment.
03The authors hypothesize that stroke inflammation and disruption of dopamine pathways may contribute to poststroke depression.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
This is a narrative review and conceptual model, not a test of a treatment. The search was limited to English articles published before October 2015. Most existing work relates to ischemic stroke, not hemorrhagic stroke or traumatic brain injury. Animal models and genetic findings are not directly transferable to patient care. The proposed genetic testing is still in the discovery phase. The review does not provide a quality appraisal or pooled results.
Declared interests
The authors report no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that dopamine medications prevent or treat poststroke depression. The paper proposes a dopamine model from review and animal evidence, and the medication result with methylphenidate and levodopa was given along with physical therapy, so the contribution of any single component cannot be separated.