Clinical efficacy of sertraline in the treatment of depression caused by Alzheimer disease: A protocol of systematic review

BACKGROUND: This study will appraise the clinical efficacy of sertraline in the treatment of depression caused by Alzheimer disease (AD). METHODS: Comprehensive searches in PUBMED, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, Scopus, AMED, CNKI, and WANGFANG will be performed from inception to the present without language restriction. In addition, other sources will also be searched to avoid losing more potential studies. We will only consider randomized controlled trials that examined the efficacy of sertraline for depression in patients with AD. Two team members will independently undertake literature selection, data collection, and risk of bias assessment. We will use Cochrane Risk of Bias Tool to assess the risk of bias for each eligible trial, and will utilize RevMan 5.3 software to carry out data analysis. RESULTS: This study will recapitulate high-quality evidence to assess the efficacy of sertraline for the treatment of depression following AD. CONCLUSION: The findings of this study will help to determine whether or not sertraline is effective for the treatment of depression after AD. OSF REGISTRATION: osf.io/f29v6.