Factors associated with mental health service access among Australian community-dwelling survivors of stroke.

PURPOSE: To describe types of mental health treatment accessed by community-based stroke survivors and factors associated with access. METHODS: A sub-group of registrants from the Australian Stroke Clinical Registry completed a supplementary survey 2.5 years post-stroke. Self-reported information about depression/anxiety and treatment access were collected. Demographic and clinical data were obtained through linkages with registry and government data. Staged multivariable logistic regression was conducted to examine factors associated with treatment access. RESULTS: Among 623 registrants surveyed (37% female, median age 69 years), 26% self-reported a medical diagnosis of depression/anxiety at 2.5 years post-stroke. Of these, only 30% reported having accessed mental health services, mostly through government-funded Medicare schemes. Younger age (odds ratio (OR) 0.95, 95% CI 0.93, 0.98), history of mental health treatment (OR 3.38, 95% CI 1.35, 8.48), feeling socially isolated (OR 2.32, 95% CI 1.16, 4.66), self-reported medical diagnosis of depression/anxiety (OR 4.85, 95% CI 2.32, 10.14), and government-subsidised team care plan arrangement (OR 4.05, 95% CI 1.96, 8.37) were associated with receiving treatment. CONCLUSIONS: Many stroke survivors have untreated depression/anxiety. Primary care practitioners should be supported in undertaking effective detection and management. Older and newly diagnosed individuals should be educated about depression/anxiety and available supports.Implications for rehabilitationPrimary care providers play a pivotal role in the pathway to mental health care, and therefore should always screen for depression/anxiety and provide comprehensive assessment and referral to specialist services where necessary.Targeted psychoeducation should be provided to survivors of stroke who are older and newly diagnosed with depression/anxiety, to increase awareness about mood problems following stroke.Primary care providers should collaborate with other health professionals (e.g., through coordinating a team care arrangement plan), to address patients' multiple and complex rehabilitation needs.Rehabilitation professionals should remain informed about current evidence-based treatments for post-stroke depression/anxiety and pathways that enable their patients to access these services.

Treatment with Multiple Therapeutic Classes of Medication Is Associated with Survival after Stroke.

INTRODUCTION: Treatment with several therapeutic classes of medication is recommended for secondary prevention of stroke. We analyzed the associations between the number of classes of prevention medications supplied within 90 days after discharge for ischemic stroke (IS)/transient ischemic attack (TIA) and survival. METHODS: This is a retrospective cohort study of adults with first-ever IS/TIA (2010-2014) from the Australian Stroke Clinical Registry individually linked with data from national pharmaceutical and Medicare claims. Exposure was the number of classes of recommended medications, i.e., blood pressure-lowering, antithrombotic, or lipid-lowering agents, supplied to patients within 90 days after discharge for IS/TIA. The longitudinal association between the number of classes of medications and survival was evaluated with Cox proportional hazards regression models using the landmark approach. A landmark date of 90 days after hospital discharge was used to separate exposure and outcome periods, and only patients who survived until this date were included. RESULTS: Of 8,429 patients (43% female, median age 74 years, 80% IS), 607 (7%) died in the year following 90 days after discharge. Overall, 56% of patients were supplied all 3 classes of medications, 28% 2 classes of medications, 11% 1 class of medications, and 5% no class of medications. Compared to patients supplied all 3 medication classes, adjusted hazard ratios for all-cause mortality ranged from 1.43 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.18-1.72) in those supplied 2 medication classes to 2.04 (95% CI: 1.44-2.88) in those supplied with no medication class. DISCUSSION/CONCLUSION: Treatment with all 3 classes of guideline-recommended medications within 90 days after discharge was associated with better survival. Ongoing efforts are required to ensure optimal pharmacological intervention for secondary prevention of stroke.