Background Major depressive disorder is commonly found in patients with a wide range of general medical conditions, and it may have a major impact on patient functioning. This study looks at the effect of antidepressant treatment combinations in depressed patients with single and multiple general medical conditions.
What This Study Found Though past studies have suggested that patients with general medical conditions are less responsive to antidepressant therapy, this study of the effectiveness and side effects of 3 different antidepressant regimens on patients with multiple medical conditions found only minimal differences in treatment response between groups. Analyzing data on 665 depressed patients with none, 1, 2, or 3 or more treated medical conditions, researchers found almost no statistical difference in efficacy and tolerability. Moreover, there were no differences in outcomes between antidepressant monotherapy and antidepressant combination therapies, regardless of the number of medical conditions the patient had.
Implications
According to the authors, these findings suggest that depressed patients with or without comorbid conditions can receive safe and effective depression treatment without the risk of adverse effects or antidepressant tolerability.
The authors report no additional benefit for combination antidepressant therapy versus monotherapy with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors.