Objective:

To complete stroke clinic brain health screenings.

Background:

Components of brain health, such as diet, mental health, physical activity, and cognition are challenging to assess within the time constraints of a routine clinic visit but are important in post-stroke care. Validated scales administered by study staff may provide a feasible, standardized assessment of brain health.

Design/Methods:

A 30-minute assessment was administered to post-stroke outpatients at an urban academic medical center by study staff. Stroke or TIA survivors aged >/= 55 years with no preceding dementia or use of memory medications were included. Participants completed the MIND Diet Screener, Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D), Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item (GAD-7), International Physical Activity Questionnaire - Short Form (IPAQ-SF), and Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA).

Results:

Over three months, 234 patients were screened prior to clinic. 132 were ineligible, 62 were not approached due to insufficient staffing, 22 declined, and 18 were enrolled. Participants were 50% female, 61% white, 33% black, 6% other, and 6% hispanic. 50% of participants scored </=7.5 on the MIND Diet Screener. 44% did not report any moderate or vigorous exercise over the span of the preceding week that met AHA guidelines, excluding walking. 17% reported no exercise at all, including walking for at least 10 minutes. 67% endorsed anxiety symptoms, with 5% meeting criteria for mild anxiety. All participants endorsed at least one depressive symptom. 89% met criteria for cognitive impairment (MoCA <26) with average MoCA score of 21.44.

Conclusions:

In this feasibility study of post-stroke survivors, depressive symptoms, cognitive impairment, and anxiety were highly prevalent. Most participants were not consuming high levels of the recommended MIND diet food components. Completing a brain health assessment comprised of validated instruments to assess post-stroke cognition, anxiety, depression, diet, and physical activity generally took 30 minutes and was feasible to be administered by study staff.