In the current issue of Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics a new analysis discloses that increasing the dosage of antidepressant drugs does not carry benefits. As many patients with unipolar depression do not respond sufficiently to initial antidepressant monotherapy, a dose increase of the current administered antidepressant (dose escalation, high-dose treatment) is frequently carried out as next treatment measure.

Authors conducted a meta-analysis which included all double-blind randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing a dose increase of antidepressants directly to continuation of standard-dose treatment in unipolar depressive patients who were non- responders to standard-dose pharmacotherapy. A mean change in the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAM-D) total score was the primary outcome. Secondary outcomes were response rates and discontinuation rates due to any reason, inefficacy, and adverse effects.

Seven double-blind RCTs (8 study arms) representing 1,208 participants were included. Fluoxetine (N [number of studies] = 2, n [number of patients] = 448), sertraline (N = 2, n = 272), paroxetine (N = 2, n = 146), duloxetine (N = 1, n = 255), and maprotiline (N = 1, n = 87) were investigated. Dose escalation was not more efficacious in HAM-D total score reduction than maintaining standard-dose treatment, neither for the pooled antidepressant group nor the individual antidepressants. No differences could be determined for response rates, all-cause discontinuation, and drop-outs due to inefficacy. Significantly more patients in the dose escalation group dropped out due to adverse effects than in the standard-dose continuation group. In addition, no influence of baseline symptom severity or amounts of dose increments on effect sizes.

Authors concluded that according to their findings, dose escalation after initial non-response to standard-dose pharmacotherapy cannot be regarded as general evidence-based treatment option in unipolar depression.

Source: Journal of Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics
Full bibliographic information
Dose Escalation of Antidepressants in Unipolar Depression: A Meta-Analysis of Double-Blind, Randomized Controlled Trials. Psychother Psychosom 2017;86:283-291