Introduction: Mood disorders post-stroke are prevalent yet under recognised. Young Stroke Service (YSS) is a pilot multidisciplinary program supporting participants aged 18–55, providing assessment, needs identification and referral to outpatient or specialist services. This can include mental health crisis support or YSS Cognitive Behavioural Therapy-Adapted for Brain Injury (CBT-ABI). We describe the mental health profile of participants at YSS intake assessment.
Methods: Cross-sectional description of intake assessments and CBT-ABI referrals between 15/3/23-10/3/26. Mental health symptoms were captured using self-reported Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), Generalised Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7), EQ-5D-3L anxiety/depression subscale, and Unmet Needs Survey, including distress (0–10) and unmet emotional needs.
Results: 286 participants registered (median age 44.0 (IQR 38.0-50.3), female 46.2%, median 7-months poststroke (IQR 3–20). Median PHQ-9 was 8 (IQR 4-14, n=277); 23.1% reported moderate-severe or severe symptoms and 18.7% reported thoughts relating to death or self-harm in the past two weeks. Median GAD-7 was 6 (IQR 2-11, n= 282); 30.4% reported moderate-severe symptoms. Time since stroke was not correlated to PHQ-9 or GAD-7 (Spearman’s ρ 0.09, 0.01 respectively, p >0.1). On EQ-5D-3L, 43.8% reported moderate and 15.9% extreme anxiety or depression. Distress was ≥ 8/10 for 17.6% of respondents (n=43 of 254); 79.5% reported ≥1 unmet emotional need. Half (n=144) of the participants registered were referred to YSS CBT-ABI.
Conclusion: A substantial proportion of young stroke survivors report clinically significant symptoms of depression, anxiety and unmet emotional needs. These findings underscore the need for routine, validated mental health screening, and support throughout stroke recovery.