Abstract TMP48: Effect of Pre-Morbid Antianxiety and Antidepressant Medications on Ischemic Stroke Functional Outcome

Abstract

Introduction: Antianxiety and antidepressant medications have shown some neuroprotective effects following stroke. However, the effect of premorbid use of these medications remains unclear. Hypothesis: Pre-morbid exposure to antianxiety or antidepressant medications will negatively impact recovery from acute ischemic stroke, measured by modified Rankin scale (mRS) at 90 days after stroke onset. Methods: This is a secondary analysis of the Albumin in Acute Ischemic Stroke (ALIAS) 2 trial. The primary outcome is 90-day mRS 0-1. The exposure is premorbid antidepressant or antianxiety medication. We fit univariate and multivariate logistic regression models to our outcome, with covariates chosen using a stepwise backwards interactive selection. Results: We included 806 patients with a mean (SD) age of 64.4 (12.8) years. The median (IQR) NIH Stroke Scale was 11 (8, 17) and 54.3% were male, 75.6% were Caucasian, 88.8% received tPA, 72.5% had hypertension, and 20.3% had diabetes. A total of 140/806 (17.4%) of patients took either an antidepressant or antianxiety medication, of which 91 took an antidepressant, 34 took an antianxiety medication, and 15 took both. The median (IQR) mRS Scale was one point higher in patients on antidepressant or antianxiety medication pre-stroke (3 vs. 2, p=0.019). The primary outcome of mRS 0-1 was seen in 37.7% of all patients. Taking an antidepressant or antianxiety medication was associated with lower odds of a good outcome in univariate (OR 0.61, 95% CI 0.41-0.91, p=0.015) and multivariate models (aOR 0.62, 95% CI 0.40-0.95, p=0.027) (Table 1). Conclusion: Pre-morbid exposure to antianxiety or antidepressant medications is associated with a worse outcome after acute ischemic stroke. This may be due to a negative impact of pre-stroke anxiety and depression that outweigh any neuroprotective factors of these medications.