Study Identifies Predictors for Antidepressant Treatment Response

Previous retrospective studies of relapse during continuance in major depression have suggested that response patterns during initial treatment predict relapse. A study just published in the American Journal of Psychiatry calls these findings into question. 570 patients with major depression were treated with fluoxetine. Those who responded (N=292) were randomized to placebo or fluoxetine maintenance for 52 weeks. In both the placebo and fluoxetine group, symptom severity, chronicity, neurovegetative symptom pattern, and female gender were significantly correlated with increased relapse risk; initial response pattern was not. http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/abstract/163/9/1542

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