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Clinical trials have sometimes found no difference in response between active-antidepressant and placebo groups, a finding that is usually explained by both a high rate of placebo response and the heterogeneity of antidepressant response. These researchers examined whether trajectory of response provides more clinically useful information than the traditional comparison of baseline and last score. They reanalyzed data involving 2515 patients with major depression in seven randomized, controlled trials that compared duloxetine with placebo and a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI; fluoxetine, paroxetine, or citalopram).
Week-to-week scores on the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HRSD) were plotted longitudinally. Analysis by tr…