Poststroke Depression in Hemorrhagic Stroke

Preventative Treatment of Depression in Survivors of Aneurysmal Subarachnoid Hemorrhage

A double-blinded placebo-controlled randomized trial to evaluate the effect of preventative treatment of depression in survivors of aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH), a type of stroke.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Depression; Stroke Hemorrhagic
• Intervention / Treatment: Drug: Fluoxetine; Drug: Placebo

Detailed Description

Patients who suffered aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage will be randomly assigned either an oral antidepressant or placebo and evaluated for the preventative treatment of depression and health-related quality-of-life.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 8
• Phase: Phase 2

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Washington
    • Seattle, Washington, United States, 98104
      • Harborview Medical Center

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years to 85 years (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

Patients 18-85 years of age aged 18 years and older will be included.

Patients admitted for subarachnoid hemorrhage from a ruptured cerebral aneurysm will be included.

Only patients who provide informed consent will be included.

Exclusion Criteria:

Non-English speaking patients will be excluded.

Patients currently receiving therapy for depression or related mental health diagnoses before admission will be excluded.

Patients with medical contraindications to fluoxetine therapy will be excluded.

Pregnant patients or patients considering pregnancy during the trial period at the time of consent will be excluded.

Patients with active psychosis will be excluded.

Patients who are incarcerated or in police custody will be excluded.

Patients with a comorbidity or cognitive impairment (as determined by a recruiter-administered Montreal Cognitive Assessment; Patients scoring >26 are considered of appropriate cognitive function for consent) that precludes informed consent and participation in the research interviews will be excluded.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Prevention
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Triple

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Treatment; Patients randomized to the fluoxetine treatment group will be initially prescribed fluoxetine 20mg/day for a period of one year.	Drug: Fluoxetine; Patients who suffered aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage will be prescribed fluoxetine and evaluated for the preventative treatment of depression and health-related quality-of-life; Other Names: Prozac
Placebo Comparator: Placebo; Patients randomized to the placebo group will be initially prescribed placebo 20mg/day for a period of one year.	Drug: Placebo; Patients who suffered aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage will be prescribed placebo and evaluated for the preventative treatment of depression and health-related quality-of-life

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Depression	Depression will be assessed using the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAM-D). The HAM-D is a 21-item questionnaire to treat and diagnose severe depression. Examining a different symptom or aspect of depression, such as mood, guilt feelings, or suicidal ideation. The first 17 questions are used for scoring. The first 17 items used (8 items scored 0-4, 9 scored 0-2; min-max: 0-50): 0-7 normal, 8-13 mild, 14-18 moderate, 19-22 severe, ≥23 very severe depression.	1 year
Depression	Depression will be assessed using the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9). The PHQ-9 is a 9 item questionnaire to treat and diagnose depression. The minimum score is 1, and the maximum score is 27. 1-4: minimal depression 5-9: mild depression 10-14: moderate depression 15-19: moderately severe depression 20-27: severe depression	1 year

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Anxiety	Anxiety will be assessed using the Hamilton Rating Scale for Anxiety. The Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale measures the severity of anxiety through looking at both psychic and somatic anxiety. Each item is scored on a scale of 0 to 4, with a total range of 0-56, where <17 indicates mild severity, 18-24 mild to moderate severity and 25-30 moderate to severe.	1 year
Function	Function will be assessed using the The Short Form (18) Health Survey (SF-18). The SF-18is a 18-item questionnaire to assess health-related quality-of-life. Health concepts of physical functioning, bodily pain, role limitations due to physical health problems, role limitations due to personal or emotional problems, emotional well-being, social functioning, energy/fatigue, and general health perceptions. Scoring: RAND scoring is composed of precoded numeric values that are recoded per RAND scoring key and each item is scored on a 0-100 range so that the lowest and highest possible scores are 0 and 100. Scores represent the percentage of total possible score achieved. In the second part of the scoring key, items are averaged together to create each scale allowing the scale to represent the average for all items in the scale that was answered.	1 year
Fatigue	Fatigue will be assessed using the Fatigue Severity Scale. The Fatigue Severity Scale measures the severity of fatigue and its effect on a person's activities and lifestyle in patients exhibiting depression. The scale is designed to differentiate fatigue from clinical depression since they share similar symptoms. Scoring is done by calculating the average response to the question and people with depression typically score about 4.5 whereas those with fatigue average about 6.5. A minimum score is 1, and a maximum score is 7 A score close to 4.5 is more likely to indicate depression. A score close to 6.5 is more likely to indicate fatigue.	1 year
Healthcare Utilization	Healthcare Utilization will be assessed using the Self-Report Health Service Utilization and Medication Use. The Self-Report Health Service Utilization and Medication Use scale measures the frequency and purpose of healthcare utilization to include hospitalization, mental health care, inpatient admissions, outpatient visits, emergency room visits, skilled nursing facility/rehabilitation center visits, and medication usage. Scoring is the number of utilization per category per period. A minimum score is 0, and a maximum score is unlimited. A higher number indicates that the patient has utilized more health services and medication during 1 1-year time frame.	1 year
Social Support	Social Support will be assessed using the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS). The MSPSS is a scale to determine a patient's social support system from Family, Friends, and significant other. The scale is comprised of a total of 12 items with 4 items for each subscale. The following subscale can also be calculated but not utilized in the report: Significant other average responses from questions 1,2,5,10; Family average responses from questions 3,4,8,11; friends average responses from questions 6,7,9,12. The total scale score is calculated by adding all 12 questions, then dividing by 12. A minimum score is 1, and a maximum score is 7. Total Scale Score of: 1-2.9: low support 3-5: moderate support 5.1-7: high support	1 year
Sleep Disturbance	(PROMIS-Sleep Disturbance). PROMIS is a sleep disturbance scale used to assess the pure domain of sleep disturbance. The short form is scored based on using a data collection tool that automatically calculates scores and will be using responses to each item for each participant. Scoring: The total raw score for a measure will be converted according to the PROMIS Score. The conversion table will translate the total raw score into a T-score for each participant. The T-score rescales the raw into a standardized score with a mean of 50 and a standard deviation of 10. Therefore, a person with a T-score of 40 is one standard deviation below the mean. A higher PROMIS T-score represents more of the concept being measured.	1 year
Function	Function will be assessed using the Barthel Index. The Barthel Index is a scale used to determine functional status, measuring performance in activities of daily living. Values assigned to each item are based on a time and amount of actual assistance required if a patient is unable to perform the activity. It can also be used to understand the course of rehabilitation and show how much progress toward independence has occurred. If there is a lack of improvement in the Barthel Index after a reasonable period of treatment, it indicates poor potential for rehab. The total score is not as significant or meaningful as the breakdown into individual items, but rather indicates where deficiencies are. A minimum score is 0, and a maximum score is 100. A patient scoring 0 is incontinent and cannot perform daily tasks independently. A patient scoring 100 is continent and able to perform daily tasks independently.	1 year

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Washington
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Michael Levitt, MD, University of Washington

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): March 1, 2019
• Primary Completion (Actual): May 7, 2025
• Study Completion (Actual): May 7, 2025

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: January 28, 2019
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 31, 2019
• First Posted (Actual): February 1, 2019

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): August 6, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: July 31, 2025
• Last Verified: July 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: stroke; depression; subarachnoid hemorrhage; hemorrhagic stroke
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Cerebrovascular Disorders; Brain Diseases; Central Nervous System Diseases; Nervous System Diseases; Vascular Diseases; Cardiovascular Diseases; Mental Disorders; Pathologic Processes; Behavioral Symptoms; Hemorrhage; Mood Disorders; Intracranial Hemorrhages; Hemorrhagic Stroke; Stroke; Depression; Depressive Disorder; Subarachnoid Hemorrhage; Physiological Effects of Drugs; Molecular Mechanisms of Pharmacological Action; Enzyme Inhibitors; Neurotransmitter Agents; Membrane Transport Modulators; Psychotropic Drugs; Cytochrome P-450 Enzyme Inhibitors; Neurotransmitter Uptake Inhibitors; Antidepressive Agents; Serotonin Agents; Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors; Antidepressive Agents, Second-Generation; Cytochrome P-450 CYP2D6 Inhibitors; Fluoxetine
• Other Study ID Numbers: STUDY00002718

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO
• IPD Plan Description: No individual participant data provided.

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: Yes
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No
• product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.: No