The impact of emotional and cognitive changes after stroke: a longitudinal community-based study

Aim of the present study was to investigate the impact of emotional and cognitive changes after stroke on the lives of patients and their partners. The emotional and cog-nitive consequences of stroke were measured at three and fifteen months post-stroke in a community based group of patients with a clinically first-ever, unilateral, ischemic stroke. Most stroke patients in the study sample were collected by GPs from the north-ern part of the Netherlands, while a small part was recruited at a hospital stroke unit. A control group, matched to patients on age and gender using a stratified randomisation procedure, was recruited through practices of 4 GPs. Only patients and controls without previous neurological or psychiatric disturbances and without a known history of sub-stance abuse were included. Data collection at the two times of measurement included an interview at the patient’s residence, and subsequently a neuropsychological investi-gation divided into two sessions.