Zoloft Eases Depression post Heart Attack

Treatment with Zoloft (sertraline) can improve the quality of life in patients hospitalized for heart disease and who have developed recurrent depression–a condition that affects one in five of these patients

Treatment with Zoloft (sertraline) can improve the quality of life in patients hospitalized for heart disease and who have developed recurrent depression–a condition that affects one in five of these patients. In the American Journal of Cardiology, an international team led by Dr. J. Robert Swenson of the Ottawa Hospital in Ontario, reports on a study conducted with 369 patients who were experiencing a major depressive episode after a recent hospitalization for a heart attack or unstable chest pain related to heart disease. The patients were randomly assigned to receive either 50 to 200 mg of Zoloft per day for 24 weeks, or to receive a sugar pill (placebo). The researchers used the Quality of Life, Enjoyment, and Satisfaction scale (Q-LES-Q) and the Medical Outcomes Study SF-36 to assess patients’ quality of life and functional status. Approximately half the patients had experienced at least one major depressive episode in the past, the authors note. Treatment with Zoloft was associated with significantly greater improvement compared with treatment with placebo on the total Q-LES-Q score, the SF-36 mental component summary score, and the SF-36 subscale scores for role limitations, emotional, and mental health factors. “Depression has a substantial negative impact on quality of life and functioning in [these] patients,” the investigators write. Zoloft treatment led to “clinically meaningful improvement in multiple quality-of-life domains,” they conclude. (Source: American Journal of Cardiology, Reuters Health, Dec, 2003.)