Hostname: page-component-f554764f5-c4bhq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-04-22T18:35:05.955Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Sertraline in the Prevention of Depression

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

D. P. Doogan  and
V. Caillard
D. P. Doogan*
Affiliation:
Department of Clinical Research, Pfizer Ltd, Sandwich, Kent
V. Caillard
Affiliation:
Centre Hospitalier Regional, University de Caen, Caen
*
∗Correspondence
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

A group of 480 patients, aged 19–78 with an HRSD score of at least 17 and who met DSM–III criteria for major depressive disorder were studied. Patients were given placebo for a one-week single-blind run-in period, after which sertraline was administered for eight weeks. This was followed by 44 weeks in which patients received sertraline or placebo on a double-blind, randomised basis. Patients were assessed periodically using the 17-item HRSD and the Clinical Global Impression scales. During the entire double-blind period 24 (13.0%) sertraline patients relapsed compared with 48 (45.7%) placebo patients (P<0.001). The protective effect of sertraline was maintained throughout the 44 weeks. The study provides evidence that sertraline prevents relapse of the index episode of depression as well as recurrence of further episodes and has few side-effects.

Type
Papers
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 160 , Issue 2 , February 1992 , pp. 217 - 222
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1992 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

Footnotes

These results were collected during a multicentre study sponsored by Pfizer Central Research in the UK: Drs Beaumont, Mayhew, Feld, Harris, Hughes, Patterson, Patton, Woods, Wade, Williams. Eire: Drs Kent, Brennan, Winters, Conway. Austria: Dr Radmayr. France: Drs Burnat, Consoli, Malpas, Dufour, Guibert, Robert, Clerc, Pagot, Caillard, Oules, Brion, Laxenaire. Germany: Drs Kerler, Bother, Muth, Bokor, Ross, Rasch, Haringer. Switzerland: Dr Feldmann. Finland: Professor Vaisanen.

References

American Psychiatric Association (1980) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (3rd edn) (DSM–III). Washington, DC: APA.Google Scholar
Bjork, K. (1983) The efficacy of zimelidine in preventing depressive episodes in recurrent major depressive disorders – a double-blind placebo-controlled study. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 68, 182–189.Google Scholar
Coppen, A., Mendlewicz, J. & Kielholz, P. (1986) Pharmacotherapy of Depressive Disorders: A Consensus Statement. Geneva: World Health Organization.Google Scholar
Doogan, D. P. & Caillard, V. (1988) Sertraline: a new antidepressant. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 49 (suppl. 8), 46–51.Google ScholarPubMed
Faccini, J. M., Bennett, P. N. & Reid, J. L. (1984) European Ethical Review Committee: The experience of an international ethics committee reviewing protocols for drug trials. British Medical Journal, 289, 1051–1054.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Guy, W. (1976) ECDEU Assessment Manual for Psychopharmacology (Revised Edn). Rockville, Md.: US Department of Health, Education, and Welfare.Google Scholar
Hamilton, M. (1960) A rating scale for depression. Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry, 23, 56–62.Google Scholar
Koe, B. K., Weissman, A., Welch, W. M., et al (1983) Sertraline, 1S,4S-N-methyl-4(3,4-dichlorophenyl)-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro 1-naphthylamine, a new uptake inhibitor with selectivity for serotonin. Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, 226, 686–700.Google Scholar
Kaplan, E. L. & Meier, P. (1985) Non-parametric estimation from incomplete observations. Journal of the American Statistical Association, 53, 457–481.Google Scholar
Lehmann, E. L. (1975) Non-Parametrics: Statistical Methods Based on Ranks. San Francisco: Holden-Day.Google Scholar
Lehmann, H. E., Fenton, F. R., Deutsch, M., et al (1988) An 11–year follow-up study of 110 depressed patients. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 78, 57–65.Google Scholar
Montgomery, S. A., Dufour, H., Brion, S., et al (1988) The prophylactic efficacy of fluoxetine in unipolar depression. British Journal of Psychiatry, 153 (suppl. 3), 69–76.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Prien, R. F., Kupfer, D. J., Mansky, P. A., et al (1984) Drug therapy in the prevention of recurrences in unipolar and bipolar affective disorders: report of the NIMH collaborative study group comparing lithium carbonate, imipramine, and a lithium carbonate$imipramine combination. Archives of General Psychiatry, 41, 1096–1104.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reimherr, F. W., Byerley, W. F., Ward, M. J., et al (1988) Sertraline, a selective inhibitor of serotonin uptake, for the treatment of outpatients with major depressive disorder. Psychopharmacology Bulletin, 24, 200–205.Google Scholar
Schou, M. (1979) Lithium as a prophylactic agent in unipolar affective illness: comparison with cyclic antidepressants. Archives of General Psychiatry, 36, 849–851.Google Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.