Cognition and Affect After Stroke: a Prospective Evaluation of Risks

Stroke is a leading cause of disability, affecting about 34,000 to 41,000 individuals in the Netherlands of middle and old age every year. Due to the aging of the population, this figure will increase considerably over the next decades (Struijs et al., 2005). Twenty-five percent of stroke patients die within one month, making stroke a major risk factor for premature death in developed countries. According to the World Health Organization, stroke is the third leading cause of the burden of disease in middle and high-income countries (World Health Organization, 2008). It has a significant negative impact on quality of life of both the patients as well as their caregivers and significant others. Surviving stroke patients often struggle with its manifold and lifelong lasting consequences, with 35 percent of patients being functionally dependent one year after stroke (Wolfe, 2000) and cognitive and emotional changes which are found up to two years post-stroke (Rasquin, Lodder, & Verhey, 2005). Depression, apathy, and cognitive impairment are very prevalent and significantly contribute to the burden of the disease, but their etiologies remain poorly understood.

The aim of the CASPER study is to gain more insight into the etiologies of post-stroke depression (PSD), post-stroke apathy (PSA), vascular cognitive impairment (VCI), and post-stroke dementia. Therefore, the primary objectives are to identify biomarker-based predictors of PSD, PSA, and VCI. A secondary aim is to study effect modulation, especially the interaction between cerebrovascular disease, neurodegenerative changes and inflammation in post-stroke dementia.

CASPER is a prospective clinical cohort study of 250 first-ever ischemic stroke patients with serial assessments at baseline (10 to 12 weeks after stroke), six and 12 months after baseline. Another wave (36 month after baseline) was later added.