title: Long-term follow-up of chronic depression treated with imipramine.
abstract: A long-term follow-up assessment was conducted in 25 chronically depressed patients who had participated in a 6-week trial of imipramine to determine if imipramine responders would sustain a more favorable long-term outcome than nonresponders or noncompleters. Imipramine responders tended to remain on imipramine treatment throughout the follow-up interval and had a significantly better outcome. Eighty-nine percent of the imipramine responders met the criteria for recovery at follow-up compared with 31% in the comparison groups. Imipramine responders also fared significantly better at follow-up on measures of depression, global severity of illness, and social/vocational functioning. The results supported a more favorable long-term outcome in chronic depression patients who had responded to imipramine and suggest that maintenance therapy may be indicated and effective for this disorder.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, New York Hospital-Cornell, University Medical Center, NY 10021.
authors.forename: J H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Kocsis
authors.forename: B M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Sutton
authors.forename: A J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Frances
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002908:Chronic Disease; D015897:Comorbidity; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007099:Imipramine / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008297:Male; D010043:Outcome and Process Assessment, Health Care; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D016037:Single-Blind Method; D012917:Social Adjustment
chemical_list: D007099:Imipramine