title: Efficacy and Safety of Citalopram in Treating Post-Stroke Depression: A Meta-Analysis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the citalopram in post-stroke depression treatment, we compared its use to other selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs), and traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs).
  
  
  METHODS
  We searched databases up to May 2015. Relative risk (RR) for dichotomous data and standard mean difference (SMD) for continuous variables were analyzed using Stata 13.1.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The RR of the efficacy index compared to TCAs was 1.07 (95% CI 1.01-1.14, p = 0.02), and the Hamilton Depression Scale with citalopram was lower than that found with other SSRIs (SMD -0.43, 95% CI -0.85 to -0.01, p < 0.05) and TCAs (SMD -0.31, 95% CI -0.50 to -0.12, p < 0.05) in 6-week. The Treatment Emergent Symptom Scale with citalopram was lower than that with other SSRIs (SMD -0.33, 95% CI -0.56 to -0.10, p = 0.01, 1-week). The p values were all >0.05 on citalopram vs. TCMs.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The efficacy of citalopram maybe not very significant compared to that of other SSRIs or TCAs. But citalopram has fewer side effects especially in the first week. We, however, need further researches to compare citalopram to TCMs in future.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Shuai
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.forename: Xinyi
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ding
authors.forename: Hua
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hong
mesh_terms: D015283:Citalopram / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003863:Depression / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000209:etiology*; D006801:Humans; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D017367:Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D020521:Stroke / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000523:psychology*
chemical_list: D015283:Citalopram; D017367:Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors