Faster Onset of Antidepressant Effects of Citalopram Compared With Sertraline in Drug-Naïve First-Episode Major Depressive Disorder in a Chinese Population

• DOI: 10.1097/jcp.0b013e31822c091a
• Publication Date: 2011-10-04T19:58:34Z
• Authors: Ju-Wei Hsu; Tung-Ping Su; Chen-Ying Huang; Ying-Sheue Chen; Yuan-Hwa Chou
• Keywords: Citalopram; Sertraline; Serotonin reuptake inhibitor; Depression

Several previous studies, including a meta-analysis, reported no significant differences between various selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) in the treatment of major depressive disorder. However, because different chemical structure SSRIs and difference frequency transporter polymorphisms ethnic groups, head-to-head comparative study populations may be enlightening. We compared efficacy adverse effect profiles citalopram sertraline double-blinded randomized clinical trial Chinese population drug-naïve patients with first-episode Fifty-one were randomly assigned to or treatment. The Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) was used as primary outcome. Efficacy effects analyzed an intent-to-treat population. using last-observation-carried-forward method for early terminators. There demographic characteristics at baseline. No found MADRS scores baseline (36.6 ± 5.5 vs 38.2 4.9; P = 0.322) end (week 6; 10.8 10.0 16.7 11.3; 0.082). group significantly lower week 1 (25.2 8.5 30.4 6.1; 0.029) 3 (15.9 22.1 8.7; 0.037). Overall, treatment-emergent by 14.3% 28.6% respectively. In conclusion, both efficacious well tolerated. exhibited faster onset than during weeks tended have better overall treatment, although statistic not significant.