Direct connection also seen for baseline score of the HAM-D anxiety item and adverse drug reactions

WEDNESDAY, May 8, 2024 (HealthDay News) -- Individuals with depression presenting with greater levels of depressed mood and lower levels of anxiety might respond better to Duloxetine treatment, according to a study published online June 15, 2023, in Frontiers in Psychiatry.

Julian Maciaszek, M.D., from Wroclaw Medical University in Poland, and colleagues explored the baseline characteristics of depressive symptoms associated with a good response to Duloxetine treatment using a network analysis. The researchers assessed 88 drug-free patients with active depressive episode who started monotherapy with increasing doses of Duloxetine. Depression severity was assessed using the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D).

The researchers found a direct connection between the node representing Duloxetine treatment efficacy and the nodes representing the first HAM-D item (depressed mood) and Duloxetine dose (edge weight, 0.191 and 0.144, respectively). There was a direct connection for the node representing adverse drug reactions with only one node representing the baseline score of the HAM-D anxiety (psychic) item (edge weight, 0.263).

"Our study can be concluded that Duloxetine is more effective and better tolerated among patients with dominant depressive mood symptoms and low levels of coexisting anxiety symptoms. These observations might hold some promise for personalizing treatment approaches in people with MDD [major depressive disorder]," 

 

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