A STUDY OF SERTRALINE EFFICACY ON REDUCING DISABILITIES IN STROKE IN PATIENTS: A DOUBLE BLIND RANDOMIZED CLINICAL TRIAL

Stroke is a clinical syndrome characterized by focal neurologic deficits. It is
classified as one of the most important causes of impairment. Stroke has a critically impairing effect
on the life quality of patients. Considering the importance of the problem and its treatment, we aimed
to study the effects of sertraline on reducing the disabilities in stroke.
Materials & Methods: This double blind control trial study was conducted on 67 patients (completers:
N=67, Mean age 65.27±6.17) who were selected randomly and were assigned to receive 9 months of
treatment with either sertraline or placebo.
Results: The intervention group consisted of 40 patients from which three (7.5%) patients failed to be
followed up because of the depression. The control group consisted of 40 patients and 11 (27.5%)
were excluded during the study because of depression. There was a significant difference between the
two groups regarding their sleep, social isolation, physical ability, emotional reaction and energy level,
but the difference was not significant in pain scale.
Conclusion: Sertraline could positively affect stroke patients in preventing several scales of quality of
life, health profile and depression.