Researchers found that two years before having a stroke, the scores of participants who had had a stroke increased by an average of 0.33 points. Six years before having a stroke, the scores of people who had a stroke were almost the same as those who did not have a stroke.
This clearly shows that the occurrence of depressive symptoms increased 2 years before the stroke, suggesting a link between the two health conditions.
After a stroke, depressive symptoms increase and remain high 10 years later.
People who had never had a stroke had consistent scores throughout the study.
