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PubMed1992

Decrease of depression during stroke and amputation rehabilitation.

Clinical observation had suggested that mild depression occurs after admission for acute medical treatment and then decreases during further hospitalization for rehabilitation treatment. The Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) was given on admission and discharge to 14 stroke and 17 amputee rehabilitation patients. Each of the two groups showed decreasing GDS scores from beginning to end of the rehabilitation admission. Suggested reasons included: (1) the gradually diminishing effects of stroke and amputation as life crises during the 1-2 month admission, (2) effects of physical improvement on mood and affect, (3) milieu effects of the medical ward, and (4) tendencies for all psychopathology scale scores to decrease on retest.

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PubMed1992

Increase of medical hospital length of stay by depression in stroke and amputation patients: a pilot study.

Past studies have found that medical patients with the diagnosis of depression (comorbidity) have longer hospital lengths of stay (LOS) than those without the diagnosis of depression. This suggested that scores on a depression scale would be positively correlated with LOS. On a rehabilitation ward, 14 stroke and 17 amputee patients were given the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) and lengths of stay were recorded. Correlations between GDS scores and LOS were +0.575 for stroke and +0.266 for amputee patients, both in the hypothesized direction. Explanations considered included: (1) depression and medical illness each produce morbidity which summate to require increased LOS; (2) depression delays medical recovery as well as the appearance of medical recovery, and (3) discharge planning is complicated by depression. When depression is associated with inpatient medical illness, DRGs may need to be reevaluated.

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