The efficacy of citalopram or escitalopram in patients with asthma and major depressive disorder.

Background: Major depressive disorder is common in people with asthma. Yet, few studies have evaluated depression treatment in those with asthma.

Objective: To explore the relationship between antidepressant use, depressive symptoms, and asthma control, pooled data from 3 randomized trials of either citalopram or escitalopram were assessed.

Methods: Linear fixed effects and binary logistic regression analyses were conducted with between-subject covariates including treatment group, (original) study, and demographics. The within-subject effect of visit, and a treatment group-visit (between-within) interaction effect, were also evaluated. Analyses were repeated in a high asthma exacerbation subgroup having at least 3 oral corticosteroid bursts in the previous 12 months. Outcomes included the Hamilton rating scale for depression (HAM-D), the 7-item asthma control questionnaire (ACQ), and oral corticosteroid use (yes or no).

Results: In the pooled sample (n = 255), the antidepressant treatment group exhibited lower HAM-D overall (P ≤ .001) and a lower likelihood for oral corticosteroid use (P ≤ .001) relative to the placebo group. In the high-exacerbation subgroup (n = 96), treatment group participants had lower overall asthma control questionnaire (P = .004) and HAM-D scores (P ≤ .001), and a lower likelihood of oral corticosteroid use (P = .003), relative to placebo participants. All treatment group interaction effects were not significant.

Conclusion: Citalopram or escitalopram exhibited efficacy in reducing depressive symptoms and the need for rescue oral corticosteroids in patients with asthma and major depressive disorder. Future work should determine whether selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors are effective at improving asthma outcomes in those with asthma who are not depressed.

Trial Registration: Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT00621946 and NCT01324700 (one study was conducted before ClinicalTrials.gov requirements).