Objective Poststroke depression (PSD) is a common complication of stroke and affects the rehabilitation of patients. To evaluate the efficiency of the community and family-based rehabilitation strategy in the rehabilitation of patients with PSD.

Methods Patients who suffered from stroke within 12 months before enrollment and complicated with PSD were enrolled in the prospective randomized controlled study. The rehabilitation of the patients in the treated group included help from the families under the regular guidance of a team consisting of a general practitioner, a physiatrist, and a nurse, while the patients in the control group were followed up by a general practitioner centered team in a routine manner. Improvements in the depression status, dysfunction, and quality of life were compared between patients of the two groups after one year.

Results Totally, 63 patients were enrolled in the study, 32 in the treated group and 31 in the control group. No significant differences were found concerning the baseline data between the two groups. However, the improvements of the treated groups were much greater than the control group in the depression status, dysfunction, and quality of life as well. There was a correlation between the improvement of dysfunction and depression status.

Conclusions The community and family-based rehabilitation program is effective in the rehabilitation of patients with PSD.