Antidepressants Trial in Parkinson's Disease

Summary

This is a randomised trial in a NHS setting, comparing the clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, escitalopram, and of the tricyclic antidepressant, nortriptyline, to placebo, undertaken in a real-life setting in addition to standard psychological care for the treatment of patients with depression in Parkinson's disease. Participants will be randomly allocated 1:1:1 to receive escitalopram or nortriptyline or placebo.

Timeline

Start

2021-03-05

Primary completion

2023-01-23

Completion

2023-04-30

Publications

• Schrag A, Embleton-Thirsk A, Carroll C, Serfaty M, Duncan G, Molloy S, Whipps J, McLennan B, Lewis G. Placebo-controlled three-armed pilot trial of Escitalopram or Nortriptyline for depressive symptoms in Parkinson's disease (ADepT-PD). J Neural Transm (Vienna). 2026 May 8. doi: 10.1007/s00702-026-03170-8. Online ahead of print.
• Schrag A, Carroll C, Lewis G, Serfaty M, Duncan G, Molloy S, Whipps J, McLennan B, Weng JYJ, Hunter RM, Clarke CS, Freemantle N, Embleton-Thirsk A. Effectiveness of Escitalopram and Nortriptyline on Depressive Symptoms in Parkinson's disease: the ADepT-PD RCT pilot. Health Technol Assess. 2025 Nov;29(57):1-78. doi: 10.3310/HFDO7575.
• Schrag A, Carroll C, Duncan G, Molloy S, Grover L, Hunter R, Brown R, Freemantle N, Whipps J, Serfaty MA, Lewis G. Antidepressants Trial in Parkinson's Disease (ADepT-PD): protocol for a randomised placebo-controlled trial on the effectiveness of escitalopram and nortriptyline on depressive symptoms in Parkinson's disease. BMC Neurol. 2022 Dec 12;22(1):474. doi: 10.1186/s12883-022-02988-5.

Drugs

Indications