ObjectiveTo systematically review the efficacy and safety of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) in the treatment of Parkinson's disease patients with depression. MethodsThe Cochrane Library (Issue 5, 2014), PubMed, EMbase, CNKI, VIP and WanFang Data databases were searched from inception to May 2014 for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) investigating the efficacy and safety of SSRIs for Parkinson's disease patients with depression. Two reviewers independently screened literature according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, extracted data, and assessed the methodological quality of included studies. Then meta-analysis was performed using RevMan 5.2 software. ResultsA total of 12 RCTs were included. The results of meta-analysis showed that the efficacy of SSRIs was better than placebo (RR=2.18, 95%CI 1.60 to 2.97, P<0.000 01) and the dropouts rates of SSRIs were higher than placebo (OR=3.02, 95%CI 1.04 to 8.79, P=0.04). However, the incidence rate of adverse events between the SSRIs group and the placebo group was not statistically different. ConclusionCurrent evidence indicates that SSRIs are effective for the Parkinson's disease patients with depression. Because of the limitation of quantity and quality of included studies, large-scale multi-center RCTs are required to confirm these findings.