Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2011;13(1):PCC.10m00979.
doi: 10.4088/PCC.10m00979blu.

Remission with venlafaxine extended release or selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors in depressed patients: a randomized, open-label study

Michael E Thase  1 , Philip T Ninan, Jeff J Musgnung, Madhukar H Trivedi
Affiliations

Remission with venlafaxine extended release or selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors in depressed patients: a randomized, open-label study

Michael E Thase et al. Prim Care Companion CNS Disord. 2011.

Abstract

Background: This randomized, open-label, rater-blinded, multicenter study compared treatment outcomes with the serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor (SNRI) venlafaxine extended release (ER) with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) in primary care patients with major depressive disorder.

Method: Study data were collected from November 29, 2000, to March 4, 2003. Outpatients who met diagnostic criteria for major depressive disorder according to the Mental Health Screener, a computer-administered telephone interview program that screens for the most common mental disorders, and had a total score on the 17-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS(17)) ≥ 20 were randomly assigned to receive up to 6 months of open-label venlafaxine ER 75-225 mg/d (n = 688) or an SSRI (n = 697): fluoxetine 20-80 mg/d, paroxetine 20-50 mg/d, citalopram 20-40 mg/d, and sertraline 50-200 mg/d. The primary outcome was remission (HDRS(17) score ≤ 7) at study end point using the last-observation-carried-forward method to account for early termination. A mixed-effects model for repeated measures (MMRM) analysis evaluated secondary outcome measures.

Results: Fifty-one percent of patients completed the study. Month 6 remission rates did not differ significantly for venlafaxine ER and the SSRIs (35.5% vs 32.0%, respectively; P = .195). The MMRM analysis of HDRS(17) scores also did not differ significantly (P = .0538). Significant treatment effects favoring the venlafaxine ER group were observed for remission rates at days 30, 60, 90, and 135 and a survival analysis of time to remission (P = .006), as well as Clinical Global Impressions-severity of illness scale (P = .0002); Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale-Anxiety subscale (P = .03); 6-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, Bech version (P = .009); and Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology-Self-Report (P = .0003).

Conclusions: Remission rates for patients treated with venlafaxine ER or an SSRI did not differ significantly after 6 months of treatment. Results of most secondary analyses suggested that SNRI treatment had a greater antidepressant effect versus the SSRIs studied.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

None
Kaplan-Meier Analysis of Time to Achieve Remissiona,b
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Judd L.L., Akiskal H.S., Maser J.D., et al. A prospective 12-year study of subsyndromal and syndromal depressive symptoms in unipolar major depressive disorders Arch Gen Psychiatry 1998558694–700.. - PubMed
    1. Greenberg P.E., Kessler R.C., Birnbaum H.G., et al. The economic burden of depression in the United States: how did it change between 1990 and 2000? J Clin Psychiatry 200364121465–1475.2. - PubMed
    1. Regier D.A., Narrow W.E., Rae D.S., et al. The de facto US mental and addictive disorders service system: epidemiologic catchment area prospective 1-year prevalence rates of disorders and services Arch Gen Psychiatry 199350285–94.3. - PubMed
    1. Coyne J.C., Fechner-Bates S., Schwenk T.L.Prevalence, nature, and comorbidity of depressive disorders in primary care Gen Hosp Psychiatry 1994164267–276.4. - PubMed
    1. Simon G.E., VonKorff M.Recognition, management, and outcomes of depression in primary care Arch Fam Med 19954299–105.5. - PubMed