A controlled clinical trial of sertraline in the treatment of depression in nursing home patients with late-stage Alzheimer's disease.
A sample of 31 female nursing home patients with late-stage Alzheimer's disease participated in a double-blind clinical trial of the antidepressant medication sertraline. Measures of depression included various objective scales and two measures of facial expressions of emotion coded during a semistructured interview using a facial affect coding system. Repeated-measures ANOVAs at baseline and at the 8-week endpoint indicated that on all measures, both the treatment and placebo groups improved over time, with three of six measures showing a significant time effect. The "knit-brow" facial measure approached significance for a Treatment x Time effect. Thus, sertraline had no significant benefits over placebo. However, if, as we hypothesize, the knit-brow response is more sensitive to signs of depression in advanced dementia, our study justifies the further investigation of the use of sertraline in this population.
Magai
C
C
Department of Psychology, Long Island University, Brooklyn, NY 11201, USA.
Kennedy
G
G
Cohen
C I
CI
Gomberg
D
D
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D000928:Antidepressive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000209:etiology*; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D009735:Nursing Homes; D020280:Sertraline / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D012720:Severity of Illness Index
D000928:Antidepressive Agents; D020280:Sertraline