Distinct Effects of Antidepressants in Association With Mood Stabilizers and/or Antipsychotics in Unipolar and Bipolar Depression

Purpose/Background There is a dearth of studies comparing the clinical outcomes of patients with treatment-resistant unipolar (TRD) depression and depression in bipolar disorder (BD) despite similar treatment strategies. We aimed to evaluate the effects of the pharmacological combinations (antidepressants [AD], mood stabilizers [MS], and/or antipsychotics [AP]) used for TRD and BD at the McGill University Health Center. Methods/Procedures We reviewed health records of 206 patients (76 TRD 130 BD) with TRD and BD treated with similar augmentation strategies including AD with MS (AD+MS) or AP (AD+AP) or combination (AD+AP+MS). Clinical outcomes were determined by comparing changes on the 17-time Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAMD-17), Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology, and Clinical Global Impression-Severity of Illness at the beginning (T0) and after 3 months of an unchanged treatment (T3). Findings/Results Baseline HAMD-17 scores in TRD were higher than in BD (P
Source: Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology - Category: Psychiatry Tags: Original Contributions Source Type: research