Brief interventions that educate patients and teach a problem-solving approach might have a long-lived effect.
Poststroke depression (PSD) is common, affects recovery, and increases mortality. Antidepressants are effective, but only in some patients. An effective nonpharmacological treatment for PSD would be useful. Researchers randomized 101 patients with depression within 4 months of an ischemic stroke (mean age, 57; 60% men) to receive a brief psychosocial–behavioral intervention (9 sessions for 8 weeks) or usual care. Primary care providers could prescribe antidepressants, which was a community-based standard of care.
During the study, 77% of patients received antidepressants, most commonly the SSRIs sertraline, citalopram, and paroxetine; 11% received tricyclic antidepressants, usually amitriptyline at bedtime. In nurse-conducted sessions, depre…
Reviewing Author
DisclosuresRoyaltiesTextbook of Traumatic Brain Injury, 2nd and 3rd editions
Editorial BoardsUpToDate; Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience
Leadership Positions in Professional SocietiesNorth American Brain Injury Association (Board Member); National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (Chair of Data Monitoring Safety Board for study of donepezil on cognition after traumatic brain injury)
DisclosuresRoyaltiesTextbook of Traumatic Brain Injury, 2nd and 3rd editions
Editorial BoardsUpToDate; Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience
Leadership Positions in Professional SocietiesNorth American Brain Injury Association (Board Member); National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (Chair of Data Monitoring Safety Board for study of donepezil on cognition after traumatic brain injury)