Do Stroke Survivors Experience Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms? A Systematic Review

Abstract

In the past decade, numerous studies on mood problems following stroke have emerged with an emphasis on posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This systematic review is intended to investigate the relationship between stroke and PTSS. We searched the following databases: SCOPUS, ISI Web of Knowledge, EMBASE, MEDLINE, CIHANL, AMED and PsyhINFO and retrieved the relevant titles and abstracts. Cross-sectional, longitudinal and predictive studies were included. These studies included patients of any age and of either gender with a diagnosis of stroke who were screened for PTSD or PTSS and must be written in English. A total of 108 articles were retrieved from the search. After reviewing the titles and abstracts, 104 were excluded for not meeting the predetermined inclusion criteria. A total of four studies were considered for this review. The results showed that 21%-31% of stroke patients experienced PTSS and 9.8% met the criteria for PTSD. Therefore, it is important to study PTSS in stroke patients since its would be interesting to define its role in the prediction of recovery from stroke.