Effects of Adjunctive Aripiprazole on Sexual Functioning in Patients With Major Depressive Disorder and an Inadequate Response to Standard Antidepressant Monotherapy

Abstract

To investigate the specific effect of adjunctive aripiprazole on sexual function in patients with major depressive disorder and a history of an inadequate response to antidepressant medication by controlling for improvement in depressive symptoms as measured by improvement in Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) total scores. For this post hoc analysis, data were pooled from 3 multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled aripiprazole augmentation studies (CN138-139: June 2004-April 2006; CN138-163: September 2004-December 2006; and CN138-165: March 2005-April 2008). Outpatients who met DSM-IV-TR criteria for a major depressive episode that had lasted ≥8 weeks with an inadequate response to prospective antidepressant treatment were randomized to adjunctive aripiprazole or placebo for 6 weeks. Sexual functioning was assessed using the Massachusetts General Hospital Sexual Functioning Inventory (MGH-SFI). To assess whether adjunctive aripiprazole improves sexual functioning directly, rather than as an indirect effect of improvement in depression symptoms, the mean change in MGH-SFI item scores and overall improvement scores was assessed using analysis of covariance, with double-blind baseline and change in MADRS total score as covariates. Correlations between MGH-SFI items and MADRS total score and prolactin levels were also assessed. The analysis included 1,092 subjects (n=737 female and n=355 male). In the total population, adjunctive aripiprazole demonstrated statistically significant greater improvements versus placebo on the MGH-SFI item "interest in sex" (-0.34 vs -0.18, P<.05). In males, no significant treatment differences were observed. In females, improvements in sexual functioning with adjunctive aripiprazole versus placebo were found on the MGH-SFI items "interest in sex" (-0.41 vs -0.21, P<.05) and "sexual satisfaction" (-0.44 vs -0.25, P<.05). Aripiprazole adjunctive to antidepressant treatment can have some beneficial effects on sexual functioning in patients with major depressive disorder who respond inadequately to standard antidepressant treatment; the benefits in women were specific to sexual interest and satisfaction and were independent of the improvement in depressive symptoms. clinicaltrials.gov Identifiers: NCT00095823, NCT00095758, and NCT00105196.