Abstract: Objective To observe the effects of citalopram and physical therapy on poststroke depression(PSD).Methods72 patients with PSD were randomly divided into medicine group(n=36)and control group(n=36).The patients in the control group were treated only with physical therapy and the patients in the medicine group were treated with Citalopram and physical therapy.All patients were assessed with Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale(ZSDS)and Modified Barthel index(MBI)before and after treatment.ResultsAfter treatment,the Zung score in both groups decreased significantly(P<0.01).Meanwhile,the medicine group showed significantly less depression than the control group(P<0.05).The score of MBI was also significantly increased after treatment(P<0.01)in both group,but there was no significant difference between two groups(P>0.05).ConclusionCitalopram combined with physical therapy is effective on PSD.

Key words: Citalopram, physical therapy, rehabilitation, poststroke depression