Analysis of the Mediating Effect of Fatigue Between Social Support and Depression in Hospitalized Patients With Ischemic Stroke

Objective To explore the mediating effect of fatigue between social support and depression in hospitalized patients with ischemic stroke, so as to provide reference for improving post-stroke depression.

Methods A total of 142 hospitalized patients with ischemic stroke were enrolled and investigation was conducted with self-rating depression scale (SDS), social support rating scale (SSRS), and fatigue severity scale (FSS). Spearman's correlation analysis was used to analyze the correlation between the variables. A model for the mediating effect between the variables was established by using the AMOS 23.0 software to analyze the mediating effect of fatigue between social support and depression. The Bootstrap method was used to test the significance of intermediary effect.

Results The scores for SDS, SSRS, and FSS in the hospitalized ischemic stroke patients enrolled were 48.96±9.09, 31.34±8.35, and 30.70±13.99, respectively. Spearman's correlation analysis showed that depression was positively correlated with fatigue and negatively correlated with social support. In addition, fatigue was negatively correlated with social support. Analysis of the mediating effect model established that fatigue played a mediating role between social support and depression in patients with ischemic stroke, with the mediating effect value being −0.170 and the mediating effect accounting for 90.0% of the total effect.

Conclusion The effect of social support on depression in hospitalized patients with ischemic stroke is mainly achieved by affecting the sense of fatigue. Health workers should pay attention to the severity of fatigue of patients and reduce their sense of fatigue as much as possible, which will help enhance social support for the patients and reduce their depression.