Sertraline as an add-on treatment for depressive symptoms in stable schizophrenia: A double-blind randomized controlled trial

BACKGROUND: There have been few studies to specifically examine the efficacy of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) for the symptoms of depression in schizophrenia. This study aimed to determine the efficacy of sertraline as a treatment for depressive symptoms in patients with stable schizophrenia. METHODS: A 12-week randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial was designed in 2010 with an active medication (sertraline) and a matching placebo. Sertraline was administrated 50200 mg/daily. A total number of 60 patients were randomized into two groups in a 1: 1 fashion. Calgary Depression Scale for Schizophrenia (CDSS) was used as the primary measure and Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) scale was used as the secondary measure. The data was analyzed by repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) model to determine the effectiveness of sertraline. RSULTS: After 12 weeks, sertraline was significantly more effective than placebo in improving depressive symptoms in stable schizophrenia (p = 0.003). The mean score of GAF did not differ significantly in the sample population as a whole (p = 0.093). The difference between the two groups was not significant, either (p = 0.453). In addition, the rate of side effects was little but it was significantly more in the sertraline group (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study suggested sertraline to be useful as a treatment for depressive symptoms in patients with stable schizophrenia.