Clinical impact of a 2-week psychotropic medication washout in unipolar depressed inpatients.
BACKGROUND
Short-term discontinuation of psychiatric medications is required in many types of research studies. Yet there are few studies of the clinical impact of psychotropic discontinuation. We studied the impact of a short-term medication washout in unipolar depressed patients consecutively admitted to hospital for neuroimaging and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) studies.


METHODS
Patients (n=51) with unipolar depression who were taking antidepressant or mood stabilizing medication at or within 1 week of admission, and who had not been responding satisfactorily, were assessed for severity of psychopathology within 1 week of hospital admission and 41 of the group were reassessed following an approximately 2-week medication washout.


RESULTS
On average, patients remained stable during the washout or improved on clinical measures. No serious adverse clinical changes were observed.


CONCLUSIONS
Potential sample bias, small sample size.


CONCLUSIONS
The results suggest that similar studies can be conducted without causing undue worsening of symptoms. The benefit of medication washout may be related to the fact that many of the patients had been responding poorly to the medication they were taking. There is a need for further research on the effects of medication washout, for example in outpatients or those who are responding well to treatment, but have intolerable side-effects.
Grunebaum
Michael F
MF
The Mental Health Clinical Research Center for the Study of Suicidal Behavior, Department of Neuroscience, New York State Psychiatric Institute, 1051 Riverside Drive, Box 42, New York, NY 10032, USA. mgrunebaum@neuron.cpmc.columbia.edu
Oquendo
Maria A
MA
Burke
Ainsley K
AK
Ellis
Steven P
SP
Echavarria
Gonzalo
G
Brodsky
Beth S
BS
Malone
Kevin M
KM
Mann
J John
JJ
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000534:rehabilitation; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011619:Psychotropic Drugs / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013997:Time Factors
D011619:Psychotropic Drugs