Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors for Stroke Recovery

OutcomesThe primary outcomes were dependence and disability.The secondary outcomes were neurological impairments, depression, anxiety, quality of life, fatigue, healthcare cost, death, leaving the trial early, death, and adverse events including gastrointestinal side effects, bleeding, and seizures. Risk of BiasThe Cochrane Collaboration's risk of bias tool assessed risk of bias in relation to randomization, allocation concealment, blinding, incomplete outcome data, and selective reporting.5 A Funnel plot assessed publication bias. Synthesis of ResultsFor trials with a control arm and 2 active arms, data from the control arm and the SSRI arm were included.Review Manager (RevMan 5.1) software 6 calculated summary statistics at the end of intervention and at the end of follow-up.Statistical heterogeneity between trials and subgroups was assessed by I 2 statistic and interpreted according to The Cochrane Handbook.5 Summary MeasuresRandom effects meta-analyses were performed, using risk ratios (RRs) for dichotomous data and for ordinal scales with a recognized cut point.Standardized mean difference (SMD) was used for ordinal scales and continuous data.