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Within a year after traumatic brain injury (TBI), major depression develops in roughly one quarter to one half of patients, and antidepressants have been found effective in the treatment of such depression. To study the value of prophylactic antidepressant treatment after TBI, researchers randomized 79 people (mean age, 52) who had experienced a TBI within the previous 4 weeks to receive daily sertraline (100 mg) or placebo for 24 weeks.
Most TBIs were related to falls or motor vehicle accidents, and 79% of TBIs were mild. Only 10 participants had a history of mood disorder (all were in remission). The number needed to treat (with sertraline vs. placebo) in order to prevent a major depressive episode was 5.9 at 24 weeks. Sertraline did not a…