Background: Sertraline showed some potential in alleviating depressive disorder after traumatic brain injury. This systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted to investigate the efficacy of sertraline on the treatment of depressive disorder after traumatic brain injury.
Methods: The databases including PubMed, EMbase, Web of science, EBSCO, and Cochrane library databases were systematically searched for collecting the randomized controlled trials (RCTs) regarding the efficacy of sertraline for traumatic brain injury.
Results: This meta-analysis included five RCTs. The initial use of sertraline was within 8 weeks after traumatic brain injury. Compared with control group for traumatic brain injury, sertraline treatment showed no significant improvement on Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D) (standard mean difference (Std. MD) = -0.08; 95% confidence interval (CI) = -0.45 to 0.28; P = 0.65), anxiety score (Std. MD = 0.08; 95% CI = -0.32 to 0.48; P = 0.69), aggression score (Std. MD = -0.12; 95% CI = -0.56 to 0.32; P = 0.59), or quality of life (QOL) score (Std. MD = -0.06; 95% CI = -0.49 to 0.37; P = 0.78). There was no statistical difference of diarrhea (risk ratio (RR) = 0.85; 95% CI = 0.92 to 3.71; P = 0.08), dizziness (RR = 1.15; 95% CI = 0.57 to 2.31; P = 0.70), dry mouth (RR = 2.44; 95% CI = 0.43 to 13.89; P = 0.32), nausea or vomiting (RR = 1.17; 95% CI = 0.37 to 3.70; P = 0.79) between sertraline group and control group.
Conclusions: Sertraline showed no obvious benefits for the relief of depressive disorder after traumatic brain injury.
Keywords: Depressive disorder; Randomized controlled trials; Sertraline; Traumatic brain injury.
Copyright © 2019. Published by Elsevier Inc.