Table 1.

Studies investigating the association between depression and cognitive function within three months of stroke.

Study	Characteristics of patients	Neuropsychological tests and type of cognitive impairment associated with depression	Depression evaluation
Bolla-Wilson et al. (1989)30	< 60 days, N=53Cross-sectional	Tests: Boston Naming Test,Reciting of Months Forward, Repetition of Words and Phrases,Verbal Fluency,Comprehension of Complex Ideational Material, Logical memory - immediate and delayed recall, Recurrent Words, Digit Span, Visual Reproduction, Recurrent words, Logical memory, Rey Auditory Verbal Learning test, Visual Reproduction, Block Design, Clock Drawing Test, Hooper Visual Organization Test, Verbal fluency for a single letter and animals, Alternating Fingers, Luria Motor Sequences.Findings: impairment in orientation, language, executive/motor function.	DSM-III45% of patients with LH lesion had major depression
Kauhanen et al. (1999)32	1-7 days, N=1063 months, N=101First strokeFollow-up study	Tests: 5 subtests of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised, subtests of the Wechsler Memory Scale, serial learning and interference tasks, and visual recognition memory task, Trail-Making Test A, Verbal Fluency, copying tasks and modified clock hand task.Findings: visual and verbal memory, nonverbal problem solving, attention and psychomotor speed.	DSM III-R53% depressed at 3 months9% major depression44% minor depression
Pohjasvaara et al. (2002)27*	3-4 monthsN=256 patientsN=37 controlsCross-sectional cohort study	Tests: Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, Trail Making test, Stroop test, Verbal Fluency.Finding: executive dysfunction.	BDI
Nys et al. (2005)33*	3 weeks N=126 patients with first strokeN=87 controlsCross-sectional study	Tests: Raven Advanced Progressive Matrices; Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test and Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure-Delay; Brixton Spatial Anticipation Test; Test of Everyday Attention; Judgment of Line Orientation; Test of Facial Recognition; Digit Span; Token test; Boston Naming Test.Findings: domain of memory, visual perception and language.	MADRS40% mild depressive symptoms12% moderate/severe depressive symptoms
Vataja et al. (2005)31*#	3 monthsN=158 patientsN=28 controlsCross-sectionalCohort study	Tests: Nelson's version of the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, Stroop test, Trail-Making A and B tests, Verbal fluency.Findings: 33.5% of patients with executive dysfunction and 13.3% with depression-dysexecutive syndrome.	SCANMADRS39.2% depressed patients
Barker-Collo (2007)34	3 monthsN=73 patientsFirst stroke Cross-sectional study	Tests: CVLT-II, VPA, IVA-CPT, Digit and spatial spans, Victoria Stroop.Findings: reduced cognitive speed, poorer verbal memory, and increased impact of interference (Stroop ratio).	BDI22.8% moderate or severe depression

^*Findings in the electronic search of PubMed;

^#study sample was part of study sample of Pohjasvaara et al. (2002) but not the same patients. In study by Vataja et al. (2005), authors included only those patients who did not fulfill the DSM-III criteria for dementia and had psychiatric examination; LH: left hemisphere; RH: right hemisphere; CVLT-II: California Verbal Learning Test-II; VPA:Visual Paired Associates; IVA-CPT: Integrated Visual Auditory Continuous Performance Test; MADRS: Montgomery Asberg Depression Rating Scale; BDI: Beck Depression Inventory; SCAN: Schedules for Clinical Assessment in Neuropsychiatry; DSM III- R: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Revised, 3^rd edition.