Huihua Guo, Peichun Lin, Song Chen, Dezhong Zheng, Wanling Chen
Post-stroke depression (PSD) impedes recovery and is often insufficiently addressed by conventional rehabilitation. This retrospective cohort study presents a structured protocol for integrating motivational interviewing (MI) with bedside activities of daily living (ADL) training, including standardized bedside rehabilitation procedures and repeated functional and psychological assessments in PSD patients. In a retrospective cohort of 174 patients, participants were assigned to either an MI-guided ADL training group or a conventional rehabilitation group. Functional independence, emotional status, and serum monoamine neurotransmitter levels were assessed at multiple time points using standardized scales and biochemical analysis. The results showed that the MI-ADL group was associated with improved functional and emotional outcomes compared with the conventional rehabilitation group, accompanied by increased levels of key monoamine neurotransmitters: 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT), norepinephrine (NE), and dopamine (DA). This protocol provides a structured and reproducible bedside rehabilitation approach for combining psychological motivation with functional rehabilitation. However, as this was a retrospective cohort study, these findings are hypothesis-generating, and further prospective studies are needed to confirm causal relationships.