Quality of Life in 833 outpatients with major depression treated with open-label venlafaxine extended release: An observational 24-week study

Abstract

BACKGROUND Quality of Life (QoL) assessments are common in medicine and, recently, in psychiatry, mostly in patients with chronic mental illness. We evaluated QoL in depressed outpatients treated with venlafaxine-XR over a period of 24 weeks. METHOD We evaluated 833 patients with DSM-IV major depression using the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D), the Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAM-A), the Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (MÅDRS), and the QoL in Depression Scale (QLDS). The patients received venlafaxine-XR and we evaluated them after 4, 8, and 24 weeks of treatment. RESULTS HAM-D scores decreased from a baseline of 24.6 - 6.3 to 6.0 - 5.5 (mean - SD; P <0.0001) after 24 weeks. HAM-A scores decreased from a baseline of 32.3 - 7.9 to 6.8 - 6.8 ( P <0.0001) after 24 weeks. QLDS scores decreased from a baseline of 25.8 - 5.8 to 6.6 - 7.5 ( P <0.0001) after 24 weeks, indicating improvement in QoL. The response after 4 weeks was also significant and continued improving during the study. Venlafaxine-XR was shown to be safe and well tolerated. DISCUSSION Open-label venlafaxine-XR was safe, effective, well tolerated, and improved not only depression and anxiety symptoms, but also QoL, in outpatients with major depression. This study has the limitations of any non-randomized, non-blinded multiple-site clinical trial.