Antidepressents might benefit patients who are diagnosed with depression after stroke, but caution is required, researchers say. 

In an updated Cochrane review, a team — led by the George Institute for Global Health, Sydney — says little is known about the risks of seizures, falls, delirium and interaction with other medications associated with antidepressants post-stroke.

The team compiled evidence from 49 trials involving more than 3000 people, including Australians, to look at the evidence for pharmacological treatment, talking therapies and, for the first time, non-invasive brain stimulation for mood disorder in patients who have had a stroke.

They found “very low-certainty evidence” that drug treatments — including SSRIs, SNRIs and other antidepressants — reduced the risk of people still meeting the criteria for depression after treatment (by 30%) compared with placebo.