Background:
Many systematic reviews and meta-analyses have evaluated the effectiveness of non-pharmacological therapies to improve symptoms of post-stroke depression (PSD) and reduce disability and mortality in patients with PSD. However, no research has appraised the credibility of the evidence. This study aims to summarize and evaluate the current evidence for non-pharmacological treatment of PSD and to seek effective treatment with reference to reliable evidence.
Methods:
We searched the electronic databases EMBASE, MEDLINE, Cochrane Central, PubMed, PROSPERO, Web of Science, and CINAHL. We will search articles from the above database for all published meta-analyses to December 2021 to evaluate the effect of non-pharmacological treatment of PSD. Two reviewers will extract the general characteristics of the included articles, as well as participants, interventions, outcome measures, and conclusions. The quality evaluation of each systematic review will be conducted with reference to the AMSTAR 2 tool. The effect size of each review will be recalculated using either a fixed-effects or a random-effects model. Cochrane's Q test and
I
2
statistics will be used to evaluate the heterogeneity between studies. To determine whether a systematic review had small study effects, we will use the Egger test. We expect to extract valid evidence and classify it from strong to weak.
Results:
The findings of this umbrella review will provide effective evidence for the non-pharmacological treatment of PSD.
Conclusion:
Our research conclusion will provide clinical staff and PSD patients with appropriate treatment recommendations.
Ethics and dissemination:
As the data were obtained from published materials, there is no need for ethical approval for this umbrella review. The findings of this umbrella review will be published in a peer-reviewed journal.
INPLASY registration number:
INPLASY2021100083.
Sensitivity analysis: Sensitivity analysis will be carried out to assess the impact of a single study on a comprehensive estimate of each risk factor.
Country(ies) involved: China. K e y w o r d s : n o n -p h a r m a c o l o g i c a l interventions, post-stroke depression, protocol, study, systematic reviews.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.