title: Efficacy of milnacipran on poststroke depression on inpatient rehabilitation.
abstract: Post-stroke depression (PSD) has a negative impact on rehabilitation following stroke. No satisfactory antidepressant treatment for PSD has yet been developed. The present study examined the effect of milnacipran, a serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor, on PSD patients. Eleven PSD patients taking milnacipran in a rehabilitation hospital were compared to age-matched, sex-matched, and severity of depression at admission-matched PSD patients hospitalized during 2001 who did not take any antidepressant as historical control. Severity of depression was measured using self-rating depression scale for depression (SDS) assessed at admission and discharge after 3 months inpatient rehabilitation. Activities of daily living (ADL) and quality of life (QOL) were measured, respectively, by the functional independence measure (FIM) and a self-completed questionnaire for QOL (QUIK) as outcomes of rehabilitation. For the SDS score, the group taking milnacipran showed significant improvement compared to the control group in our study. FIM was improved in both groups. In the end QUIK did not change significantly in either group. We found no major side-effects of milnacipran among the patients. These results suggest that milnacipran is a safe and effective treatment for PSD for inpatients undergoing rehabilitation.
authors.affiliation: Ibaraki Prefectural University of Health Sciences School of Health Sciences, Ibaraki, Japan. yamakaway@ipu.ac.jp
authors.forename: Yuriko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yamakawa
authors.forename: Shinji
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Satoh
authors.forename: Shunji
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sawa
authors.forename: Hitoshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ohta
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Asada
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000339:Affect; D000368:Aged; D000928:Antidepressive Agents / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003521:Cyclopropanes / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003863:Depression / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000209:etiology* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D000078764:Milnacipran; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011788:Quality of Life; D020521:Stroke / Q000150:complications* / Q000523:psychology; D000071939:Stroke Rehabilitation; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000928:Antidepressive Agents; D003521:Cyclopropanes; D000078764:Milnacipran