The Choice of Either Quetiapine or Aripiprazole as Augmentation Treatment in a European Naturalistic Sample of Patients With Major Depressive Disorder

BACKGROUND

Augmentation with second-generation antipsychotics (SGAs) represents an evidence-based psychopharmacotherapeutic strategy recommended in case of insufficient response to the first-line antidepressant (AD) treatment in major depressive disorder (MDD). Comparative evidence regarding efficacy and prescription preferences of the individual SGAs is scarce.

METHODS

In the scope of this European, multi-site, naturalistic cross-sectional investigation with retrospective assessment of treatment outcome, we compared sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of 187 MDD patients receiving either quetiapine (n = 150) or aripiprazole (n = 37) as augmentation of their first-line AD psychopharmacotherapy.

RESULTS

Comorbid posttraumatic stress disorder and diabetes were significantly associated with aripiprazole augmentation in our primary and post-hoc binary logistic regression analyses. Furthermore, we identified an association between aripiprazole co-administration and the presence of additional psychotic features, higher rates of AD combination treatment, and a longer duration of psychiatric hospitalizations during the lifetime, which, however, lost significance after correcting for multiple comparisons. Regarding treatment outcome, we found a trend of higher response rates and greater reductions in severity of depressive symptoms in MDD patients dispensed quetiapine.

CONCLUSIONS

Factors associated with a more chronic and severe profile of MDD seem to encourage clinicians to choose aripiprazole over quetiapine, that was, however, administered in the majority of our MDD patients, which might reflect the current approval situation allowing to prescribe exclusively quetiapine as on-label augmentation in MDD in Europe. Given the retrospective assessment of treatment response, the markedly smaller proportion of patients receiving aripiprazole augmentation generally showing an unfavorable disease profile, and the partially heterogeneous statistical robustness of our findings, further studies are required to elaborate on our observation and to generate unambiguous recommendations regarding the choice of first-line SGA augmentation in MDD.

Change in 1-year hospitalization of overall and older patients with major depressive disorder after second-generation antipsychotics augmentation treatment

BACKGROUND

Studies on second-generation antipsychotics (SGA) augmentation treatment for older adults with major depressive disorder (MDD) remain limited. We aimed to investigate the effectiveness of SGA augmentation for overall and older patients with MDD inpatient history by assessing the change in 1-year hospitalization before and after SGA augmentation using the latest National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD) in Taiwan.

METHODS

The samples were MDD patients (ICD-9 CM code: 296.2 and 296.3) who had psychiatric inpatient history. A total of 2602 MDD patients including 430 elderly subjects (age ≥ 60 years) who received SGA augmentation for 8 weeks between January 1998 and December 2012 were included in this 1-year mirror-image study. Outcome measures included number and length of psychiatric and all-cause hospitalizations.

RESULTS

After 8-week continuous SGA augmentation in the study subjects, the total number and days of psychiatric hospitalizations among overall patients reduced by 33.57% (p < .0001) and 18.24% (p < .0001), respectively; the total number and days of psychiatric hospitalizations among older patients (age ≥ 60) reduced by 44.52% (p < .0001) and 27.95% (p < .0001), respectively. Similarly, the total number and days of all-cause hospitalizations were significantly reduced.

LIMITATIONS

MDD patients without inpatient history were not included due to data limitation; hence, the results may not be generalized to all patients.

CONCLUSIONS

The results support that SGA may be effective in reducing psychiatric and all-cause hospitalization among overall and elderly MDD patients. More studies focusing on the safety of SGA among older MDD patients is warranted.

Treatment patterns and characteristics of older antipsychotic users in Germany

The aim of this study was to investigate the characteristics and treatment patterns of older antipsychotic (AP) users in Germany. We carried out a cohort study in the German Pharmacoepidemiological Research Database and identified new AP users aged at least 65 years between 2005 and 2011. Possible indications, comedication, and information on persistence and adherence, concurrent multiple use, and switch of APs were assessed. Overall, 298,847 individuals were included in the cohort. Almost 70% entered the cohort with a typical antipsychotic (TAP). Melperone (23.4%) was used most frequently, followed by promethazine (18.3%), sulpiride (11.0%), and risperidone (10.3%). AP users had a low prevalence of schizophrenia and bipolar disorders in contrast to dementia. Initiators of atypical antipsychotics had more treatment episodes compared with TAPs (median 3 vs. 2), but lower median persistence (14 vs. 22 days). Persistence was also lower in patients with, rather than without, dementia. The overall percentage of concurrent multiple use and switch to other APs was low with 5.6%, but higher in patients with, rather than without, dementia. In conclusion, APs were used for a broad range of indications, mostly other than schizophrenia and bipolar disorders. Low persistence and a high number of treatment episodes suggest frequent 'as-needed' treatment, especially in dementia patients.

Long-Term, Open-Label, Safety Study of Edivoxetine 12 to 18 mg Once Daily as Adjunctive Treatment for Patients With Major Depressive Disorder Who Are Partial Responders to Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor Treatment

Long-term safety, tolerability, and efficacy of adjunctive edivoxetine hydrochloride (hereafter edivoxetine), a highly selective and potent norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor, was assessed in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) experiencing partial response to selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor treatment. Data are from a multicenter, 54-week, open-label trial of adjunctive edivoxetine 12 to 18 mg once daily in patients with MDD who had experienced partial response by history to 6 or more weeks of current selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor therapy and who had a 17-item GRID Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression total score 16 or higher at study entry. Safety measures included discontinuation rate, treatment-emergent adverse events, serious adverse events, and vital signs. Efficacy measures included the Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale. Of 608 patients, 328 (54%) completed the open-label adjunctive treatment. Study discontinuation due to adverse events occurred in 17.0%, and there were 13 serious adverse events (1 death). Treatment-emergent adverse events 5% or higher were nausea, hyperhidrosis, constipation, headache, dry mouth, dizziness, vomiting, insomnia, and upper respiratory tract infection. Mean increases were observed in systolic blood pressure (range, 0.0-2.3 mm Hg), diastolic blood pressure (range, 1.9-3.3 mm Hg), and pulse (range, 5.9-8.4 beats per minute). Mean improvements on the Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (-17.0) were observed from baseline to week 54. The safety profile from this study provides an overview of outcomes associated with edivoxetine and norepinephrine reuptake inhibition as an adjunctive treatment in patients with MDD who were treated up to 1 year.