An evaluation of efficacy and safety of reboxetine in elderly patients affected by “retarded” post-stroke depression
Depression occurs frequently in post-stroke patients and appears to be associated with an impairment in their rehabilitation and functional recovery. Although selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) are often used in post-stroke depression (PSD), it has been observed that only a subset of pat...
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Published in | Archives of gerontology and geriatrics Vol. 40; no. 3; pp. 275 - 285 |
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Main Authors | , , , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
Elsevier Ireland Ltd
01.05.2005
|
Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | Depression occurs frequently in post-stroke patients and appears to be associated with an impairment in their rehabilitation and functional recovery. Although selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) are often used in post-stroke depression (PSD), it has been observed that only a subset of patients is responsive to this treatment. Other patients respond to tricyclic antidepressants or MAO inhibitors, which, however, may not have a favorable profile of safety and tolerability in post-stroke patients. In this double-blinded, placebo-controlled study, we evaluated the efficacy and tolerability of the noradrenaline reuptake inhibitor, reboxetine, in a subset of PSD patients classified as affected by “retarded” depression. Reboxetine (4
mg, twice daily, for 16 weeks) was administered to patients that developed depression after a single ischaemic or hemorrhagic stroke. We assessed the severity of depressive symptoms by the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS). HDRS and BDI scores (mean
±
S.D.) at baseline were, respectively, 24
±
1.31 and 19.87
±
1.46 in the placebo group, 24.06
±
1.52 and 20.56
±
2.16 in the reboxetine group. After 16 weeks, HDRS and BDI mean scores were respectively 22.73
±
2.4 and 18.4
±
3.33 in the placebo group, 9.26
±
2.15 and 8.06
±
3.43 in the reboxetine group [
p
<
0.01 versus the respective baseline (paired
t-test);
#
p
<
0.01 versus retarded depressed patients treated with placebo (one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) applied to the difference from baseline, associated with Dunnett's
t-test to isolate the differences)]. Reboxetine showed a good efficacy, safety and tolerability in PSD patients affected by “retarded” depression. We conclude that reboxetine is well tolerated and may be a useful therapeutic option in PSD patients with “retarded” depression. |
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ISSN: | 0167-4943 1872-6976 |
DOI: | 10.1016/j.archger.2004.09.004 |