Six-month compliance with antidepressant medication in the treatment of major depressive disorder.

The investigation of compliance in patients with major depressive disorder (in drop-outs versus completers and in first episode versus recurrent episode patients). A total of 85 outpatients with major depressive disorder were followed for 6 months. Different dimensions of compliance were investigated: drop-outs versus completers and their medication adherence (with electronic monitoring).

What happens with adverse events during 6 months of treatment with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors?

Objective: Although adverse events are a key factor in compliance, their evolution during treatment with antidepressants is poorly documented. Therefore, the time course of adverse events during 6 months of antidepressant treatment was investigated.

Method: 85 psychiatric outpatients with a DSM-IV diagnosis of major depressive disorder (with the exclusion of other DSM-IV Axis I disorders) were enrolled between September 2002 and March 2003 in a multicenter, randomized, double-blind trial with selective serotonin reup-take inhibitors (fluoxetine [N = 42] and paroxetine [N = 43]).