Kapoor Aaryan M, Ansari Aman, Otinashvili Nina, Shanly Dhanin, Jikia Nikoloz, George Janet, Akhvlediani Tamuna
Faculty of Medicine, Tbilisi State Medical University, Tbilisi, GEO.
Department of Neurology, Georgian American University, Tbilisi, GEO.
Cureus. 2025 Aug 11;17(8):e89790. doi: 10.7759/cureus.89790. eCollection 2025 Aug.
The study aims to assess the relationships between depressive symptoms and functional as well as cognitive outcomes in Georgian stroke patients who report a high perception of social support (SS).
A cross-sectional analysis was conducted between September and December 2024 at the Ken Walker Hospital and Aversi Rehabilitation Center. A total of 33 post-stroke patients with a high perception of social support as measured by the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS) were selected and assessed for depression using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9). Cognitive function and functional independence scores were obtained from the respective institutions' medical databases. Spearman's correlation and multivariate linear regression were used for data analysis.
Functional independence showed a strong inverse correlation with depressive symptoms (r = -0.69, p < 0.001), and cognitive performance correlated moderately and inversely with depression severity (r = -0.52, p = 0.008) in patients with a high perception of social support. Regression analysis, when controlled for age and sex, showed that higher PHQ-9 scores were significantly associated with lower Barthel Index (β = -0.1987, p =0.001) and MoCA scores (β = -1.0589, p = 0.004), supporting findings from bivariate analyses.
High perception of social support did not appear to "buffer" the association between post-stroke depression (PSD) and poor functional or cognitive outcomes, particularly within the sociocultural context of the country of Georgia. This cultural context of strong familial support and traditional societal roles is particularly understudied and is similar to those seen in several other Eastern European/Asian countries. Larger longitudinal studies are needed to clarify causal pathways and eliminate all possible confounders.
本研究旨在评估格鲁吉亚中风患者中，抑郁症状与功能以及认知结果之间的关系，这些患者报告对社会支持（SS）的感知较高。
2024年9月至12月在肯·沃克医院和阿韦尔西康复中心进行了横断面分析。通过多维感知社会支持量表（MSPSS）测量，共选取了33名对社会支持感知较高的中风后患者，并使用患者健康问卷9（PHQ-9）评估其抑郁情况。认知功能和功能独立性得分从各机构的医疗数据库中获取。采用Spearman相关性分析和多元线性回归进行数据分析。
在对社会支持感知较高的患者中，功能独立性与抑郁症状呈强烈负相关（r = -0.69，p < 0.001），认知表现与抑郁严重程度呈中度负相关（r = -0.52，p = 0.008）。在控制年龄和性别后进行回归分析，结果显示较高的PHQ-9得分与较低的Barthel指数（β = -0.1987，p =0.001）和MoCA得分（β = -1.0589，p = 0.004）显著相关，支持了双变量分析的结果。
在格鲁吉亚这个国家的社会文化背景下，对社会支持的高度感知似乎并未“缓冲”中风后抑郁（PSD）与功能或认知不良结果之间的关联。这种有着强大家庭支持和传统社会角色的文化背景尤其缺乏研究，并且与其他几个东欧/亚洲国家的情况相似。需要进行更大规模的纵向研究来阐明因果途径并消除所有可能的混杂因素。
