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Duloxetine in acute major depression: review of comparisons to placebo and standard antidepressants using dissimilar methods
Author(s) -
Girardi Paolo,
Pompili Maurizio,
Innamorati Marco,
Mancini Michele,
Serafini Gianluca,
Mazzarini Lorenzo,
Del Casale Antonio,
Tatarelli Roberto,
Baldessarini Ross J.
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
human psychopharmacology: clinical and experimental
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.461
H-Index - 78
eISSN - 1099-1077
pISSN - 0885-6222
DOI - 10.1002/hup.1005
Subject(s) - duloxetine , placebo , duloxetine hydrochloride , major depressive disorder , number needed to treat , depression (economics) , repeated measures design , medicine , psychology , psychiatry , relative risk , confidence interval , mood , mathematics , statistics , alternative medicine , pathology , economics , macroeconomics
Background Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of duloxetine (DLX), an inhibitor of both norepinephrine and serotonin transporters (SNRI), have tested its efficacy in acute major depressive disorder (MDD) versus placebo (PBO) or standard serotonin‐reuptake inhibitors (SRIs) and require review, comparing analytical methods. Method Computerized searching to identify reports of RCTs of DLX in adult, acute MDD patients permitted meta‐analytic pooling to estimate overall response and remission rates, to compare mixed‐model, repeated measures (MMRM) versus last‐observations‐carried‐forward (LOCF) analytical methods, and to assess relations of DLX dose to efficacy and adverse outcomes. Results We identified 17 RCTs involving 22 comparisons (DLX versus PBO [ n = 17) and DLX versus an SRI [ n = 16]), based on MMRM and LOCF methods that allowed estimates of response (≥50% improvement of depression scores) or remission (final depression score ≤7). There was a large overall DLX/PBO contrast (LOCF, RR = 1.42 [CI: 1.31–1.53], p < 0.0001, with a success rate of 65% [11/17]), and somewhat larger effects with MMRM in both response (MMRM: RR = 1.48 [95%CI: 1.31–1.66] versus LOCF: RR = 1.41 [CI: 1.28–1.56]; NNT 4.8 versus 6.5) and remission (MMRM: RR = 1.61 [CI: 1.41–1.85] versus LOCF: RR = 1.44 [CI: 1.27–1.63]; NNT = 5.9 versus 8.9). Based on LOCF methods, dropout rates were similar with DLX and PBO (RR = 1.04 [CI: 0.94–1.15]); DLX response was dose‐dependent ( r = +0.72, p = 0.001), and RCT‐dropout rates were inversely related to DLX dose, but possibly artifactually. Limitations RCTs involving DLX are limited, with few direct comparisons to standard antidepressants. Conclusions DLX has good evidence of efficacy in acute, adult MDD, especially at doses of 80–120 mg/day, but remains inadequately tested against standard alternatives. MMRM analyses yielded slightly superior FLX/PBO contrasts than older LOCF methods. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.