Add-on polytherapy with antidepressants and its significance in inpatients with major depression.
Add-on polytherapy with antidepressant agents was reviewed in 42 inpatients with major depression diagnosed according to the ICD-10 criteria. Twenty-eight (67.7%) patients were treated with two or more antidepressants. The most frequent combination consisted of a tricyclic antidepressant and a non-tricyclic antidepressant. Nineteen (67.8%) patients of the polytherapy group were treated with a dosage equivalent to 150 mg/day of tricyclic antidepressant. Clinically, not every patient with major depression can tolerate the adverse side effects induced by an effective dose of a single tricyclic antidepressant. From this viewpoint, add-on polytherapy with antidepressants could be one of the treatment options, especially for such intolerant patients.
Wada
K
K
Department of Neuropsychiatry, Okayama University Medical School, Japan. kwada12@cc.okayama-u.ac.jp
Yamada
N
N
Hamamura
T
T
Suzuki
H
H
Nakano
Y
Y
Kuroda
S
S
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000929:Antidepressive Agents, Tricyclic / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000188:drug therapy*; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004347:Drug Interactions; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D000929:Antidepressive Agents, Tricyclic