title: Somatic symptoms in outpatients with major depressive disorder treated with fluoxetine.
abstract: Among patients with major depressive disorder (MDD), physical and somatic symptoms are associated with a high degree of disability and healthcare utilization. However, little is known regarding the treatment of these symptoms with standard pharmacotherapy. To measure somatic symptoms of depression, the authors administered The Symptom Questionnaire (Kellner) before and after 8 weeks of open-label treatment with fluoxetine, 20 mg/day, in 170 MDD outpatients (mean age: 40.4 years). Somatic symptom scores decreased significantly after fluoxetine treatment. The degree of reduction in somatic symptoms was significantly and positively correlated with the degree of improvement in depressive symptoms as measured by the 17-item Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (Ham-D). Somatic symptom scores at baseline did not predict the degree of reduction in Ham-D scores during treatment. However, fluoxetine-remitters had significantly lower somatic symptom scores at end-point than responders who did not remit. Taken together, these findings suggest that developing treatment strategies that successfully target somatic symptoms of depression may further improve the ability to treat depression to remission.
authors.affiliation: Massachusetts General Hospital, Depression Clinical and Research Program, Dept. of Psychiatry, 50 Staniford St., Suite 401, Boston, MA 02114-2541, USA. jdenninger@partners.org
authors.forename: John W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Denninger
authors.forename: George I
authors.initials: GI
authors.lastname: Papakostas
authors.forename: Yasmin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Mahal
authors.forename: Wendelien
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Merens
authors.forename: Jonathan E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Alpert
authors.forename: Andrew A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Nierenberg
authors.forename: Albert
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Yeung
authors.forename: Maurizio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fava
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000553:Ambulatory Care; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D005473:Fluoxetine / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017367:Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D013001:Somatoform Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
chemical_list: D005473:Fluoxetine; D017367:Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors