Efficacy of sertraline in post-traumatic brain injury (post-TBI) depression and quality of life: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

Effectiveness of Pharmacotherapy for Depression after Adult Traumatic Brain Injury: an Umbrella Review

“…We felt it was important to be flexible with our inclusion criteria to ensure we included as many of the reviews conducted on this topic to-date. Inclusion criteria – depression as primary outcome We did include reviews that examined studies for which depression was not the primary outcome (Plantier et al, 2016 ; Kreitzer et al, 2019 ; Reyes et al, 2019 ; Slowinski et al, 2019 ; Barker-Collo et al, 2013 ; Fann et al, 2009a ). We did not extract data for these primary studies in to our review.…”

“…There have been a number of recent systematic reviews examining pharmacotherapy for post TBI depression, with seven published between 2019 and 2020 alone (Beedham et al, 2020 ; Peppel et al, 2020 ; Gao et al, 2019 ; Liu et al, 2019 ; Kreitzer et al, 2019 ; Reyes et al, 2019 ; Slowinski et al, 2019 ). These reviews have offered little conclusive insight, with only a small subset endorsing pharmacological intervention over placebo.…”

Improving Care for Veterans with Traumatic Brain Injury Across the Lifespan

“…Eight of these reviews demonstrated positive effects (Beedham et al, 2020;Fann, Hart, and Schomer, 2009;Hicks et al, 2019;Hicks et al, 2020;Meshkini, Meshkini, and Sadeghi-Bazargani, 2017;Peppel, Ribbers, and Heijenbrok-Kal, 2020;Sami and Faruqui, 2015;Szarka et al, 2021). Conversely, seven systematic reviews demonstrated no effect of pharmacotherapy on psychological outcomes (Ackland et al, 2019;Cheng et al, 2021;Gao et al, 2019;Kreitzer et al, 2019;Paraschakis and Katsanos, 2017;Reyes, Espiritu, and Anlacan, 2019;Salter et al, 2016), and one of those reviews examined populations restricted to veterans (Ackland et al, 2019). Furthermore, seven systematic reviews presented mixed results (Barker-Collo, Starkey, and Theadom, 2013;Iaccarino et al, 2020;Jin and Schachar, 2004;Maksimowski and Tampi, 2016;Narapareddy et al, 2020;Rahmani et al, 2021;Wheaton, Mathias, and Vink, 2011).…”

“…Pharmacotherapy effects were mixed for social outcomes, including one systematic review that demonstrated no effect (Reyes, Espiritu, and Anlacan, 2019) and one showing mixed effectiveness (Iaccarino et al, 2020). Psychotherapy improved social outcomes in two studies (Cattelani, Zettin, and Zoccolotti, 2010;Möller, Lexell, and Wilbe Ramsay, 2021), was of mixed effectiveness in one study (Snell et al, 2009), and was uncertain in one (Argyriou et al, 2021).…”

Depression Comorbid With Stroke, Traumatic Brain Injury, Parkinson’s Disease, and Multiple Sclerosis: Diagnosis and Treatment

“…Antidepressant medication, psychotherapy, and neuromodulation have all been studied in the treatment of post-TBI depression. Three recent meta-analyses of medications for depression, including SSRIs, tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs), and methylphenidate, failed to demonstrate a significant effect of medication in RCTs but did show significant medication effects in single-group studies (61)(62)(63). This lack of evidence to date from RCTs does not necessarily argue against antidepressant medication treatment of post-TBI depression; it is noted that these patients have benefited from the placebo effect in RCTs and that patients with depression following an mTBI in particular resemble patients with idiopathic major depressive disorder and thus may benefit (64).…”