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Onset of action under antidepressant treatment

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 April 2020

H.H. Stassen ,
J Angst  and
A Delini-Stula
H.H. Stassen
Affiliation:
Psychiatric University Hospital Zurich, Research Department, PO Box 68, CH-8029Zurich, Switzerland
J Angst
Affiliation:
Psychiatric University Hospital Zurich, Research Department, PO Box 68, CH-8029Zurich, Switzerland
A Delini-Stula*
Affiliation:
Psychiatric University Hospital Zurich, Research Department, PO Box 68, CH-8029Zurich, Switzerland
*
*Present address: F Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd, CNS Medical Research, PRCN Bld 52/1401, CH-4002 Basel, Switzerland.
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Summary

The issues of timing in antidepressant treatment are of great theoretical and practical relevance, even more so since recent meta-analyses yielded no evidence for a specific mode of action of antidepressants, which, according to the theory of delayed onset of action, is expected to emerge after 2 weeks of therapy. To address the issues of timing on a methodologically sound basis, future trials should adapt a ‘longitudinal’ rather than ‘cross-sectional’ design, standardized with respect to a washout period, baseline and first 2 week assessments. With this in mind, special attention should be paid to parameters which potentially enable the identification of placebo responders, true drug responders and patients at risk of non-improvement. Results and methods of the Zurich meta-analyses may serve as a starting point for further steps in this direction.

Keywords

antidepressantsdrug trialsonset of improvementresponse to treatment
Type
Research Article
Information
European Psychiatry , Volume 12 , Issue 4 , 1997 , pp. 163 - 165
Copyright
Copyright © Elsevier, Paris 1997

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References

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