Background/Aims: Post-stroke depression (PSD) affects approximately one-third of stroke survivors and has diverse negative impacts on stroke outcomes, highlighting the need for effective interventions. This study aimed to examine the effectiveness of a behavioural activation-based psychoeducational intervention for stroke survivors with depressive symptoms.
Methods: The ongoing study adopted a two-arm, assessor-blinded, repeated-measures randomised controlled design with a sample size of 150 stroke survivors. Eligible first-ever stroke survivors within six months post-stroke were randomly allocated to receive either usual care (control group, n = 75) or behavioural activation-based psychoeducation alongside usual care (intervention group, n = 75). The behavioural activation-based psychoeducation consisted of two inpatient sessions, one post-discharge home visit, and four telephone-based sessions. Depressive symptoms, behavioural inhibition system (BIS), behavioural activation system (BAS), social support and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) were assessed at the baseline, immediately post-intervention, and two months post-intervention.
Results: The interim analysis of the generalised estimating equation (GEE) model included 122 participants. Significant mean score differences between the intervention and control groups across timepoints were found in outcome variables of depressive symptoms (p = 0.001), BIS (p = 0.026), BAS-Reward (p = 0.001), BAS-Funseeking (p = 0.000), BAS-Total (p = 0.000), and social support (p = 0.042), but not BAS-Drive (p = 0.118) and HRQoL (p = 0.631).
Conclusion: Preliminary results indicate that the behavioural activation-based psychoeducation is promising for managing PSD. Further analysis after study completion will provide more conclusive results.