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. 2019 Nov 26;2019(11):CD009286. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD009286.pub3

Whyte 2005.

Methods Study type: interventional (clinical trial)
Primary purpose: prevention
Participants Number of participants: unclear
Country: USA
Setting: inpatient
At randomisation number allocated: unclear
% male: unclear
Age: unclear
Subtype of stroke: unclear
Severity of stroke: unclear
Time since stroke onset: unclear
Inclusion criteria:
  • Age > 40 years old

  • Ischaemic stroke within 3 months of study entry

  • Admitted to a UPMC hospital for acute inpatient treatment or rehabilitation of stroke

  • English‐speaking

  • Women willing to use an effective form of birth control throughout the study


Exclusion criteria
  • Major depressive episode (DSM‐IV‐TR criteria)

  • History of any bipolar disorder

  • Psychotic or history of a psychotic disorder

  • Alcohol or substance abuse or dependence (DMS‐IV TR criteria) within 3 months of study entry

  • Current treatment with antidepressant medication for any reason (e.g. anxiety disorder, neuropathic pain)

  • Primary haemorrhagic stroke

  • Language impairment severe enough to prevent assessment

  • CNS disease other than prior stroke or psychiatric illness (e.g. head trauma, multiple sclerosis, HIV with CNS involvement)

  • Pulse < 50 or > 100 beats per minute

  • Significant hyponatraemia (Na < 130 meq)

  • Current hypothyroid state

  • Medically unstable including symptoms of delirium

  • History of sensitivity to sertraline

  • Pregnant or breastfeeding

Interventions Experimental: sertraline 12.5 mg/d for 3 days, increased to 25 mg/d for 4 days, then 50 mg/d for 7 days, then increased to 75 mg/d. Target dose = 75 mg per day for the remainder of participation in the study
Comparator: matched placebo
Outcomes Primary outcome collected at 12 months:
  • Major depression at 12 months


Secondary outcomes collected at 12 months:
  • Severity of depressive symptoms post‐stroke as measured by the HDRS

  • Level of disability as measured by the FIM

Funding source None stated
Notes Terminated (recruitment goals could not be met). Last update 27 June 27 2014
Risk of bias
Bias Authors' judgement Support for judgement
Random sequence generation (selection bias) Unclear risk Insufficient information to permit judgement
Allocation concealment (selection bias) Unclear risk Insufficient information to permit judgement
Blinding of participants and personnel (performance bias) 
 All outcomes Unclear risk Insufficient information to permit judgement
Blinding of outcome assessment (detection bias) 
 All outcomes Unclear risk Insufficient information to permit judgement
Incomplete outcome data (attrition bias) 
 All outcomes Unclear risk Insufficient information to permit judgement
Selective reporting (reporting bias) Unclear risk Insufficient information to permit judgement
Other bias Unclear risk Insufficient information to permit judgement