Treatment of Depressive Patients with Duloxetine in a Hospital Consulting Department

Abstract

Objective:

Depressive symptoms present quite frequently in in-patients in general hospitals with a variety of organic conditions. The main aim of treatment is to manage the symptoms and prevent them from recurring.

The primary endpoint for this study was to assess the effectiveness of treatment with duloxetine in a group of in-patients with depressive symptoms in the general hospital.

Methods:

This was an observational study with duloxetine, in which a total of 40 patients were included who presented depressive symptoms while in-patients in a general hospital and who had the established inclusion criteria.

The clinical effectiveness of the treatment was assessed with the Hamilton scale and the Clinical Global Impression scales for severity and change.

Results:

A total of 40 patients were treated with duloxetine, 6 of whom (15%) dropped out of the study. The average maintenance dose administered at the baseline visit was 60 mg/day and at discharge was 75 mg/day. At the end of follow-up, there was a reduction with respect to the baseline values of 13.6 points on the Hamilton scale and 2.4 points on the CGI of severity scale. 63.4% of the patients felt “much better” at the final visit, according to the CGI of change scale.

Conclusions:

According to the results, it seems that DULOXETINE may be a good treatment option for patients admitted to general hospital for different conditions of organic origin who present depressive symptoms while in hospital, both for its therapeutic effectiveness and for its good tolerability profile.