Debunking the placebo effect in depression: The effect of patient and investigator expectation on escitalopram efficacy

International Clinical Psychopharmacology

Volumn 29, Issue 2, 2014, Pages 106-110

  Nehama, Yael ^a   Rabinowitz, Ilan ^b   Baruch, Yehuda ^c   Mandel, Amir ^c   Lurie, Ido ^c   Barak, Yoram ^c  

^a Clalit Health Services   (Israel)

^b YOTAM Treatment Center   (Israel)

^c TEL AVIV UNIVERSITY   (Israel)

Author keywords

Depression; Escitalopram; Placebo

Indexed keywords

ADULT; AGED; ANTIDEPRESSIVE AGENTS, SECOND-GENERATION; CITALOPRAM; DEPRESSIVE DISORDER, MAJOR; DOUBLE-BLIND METHOD; FEMALE; HUMANS; MALE; MIDDLE AGED; PATIENT SATISFACTION; PLACEBO EFFECT; PROSPECTIVE STUDIES; RESEARCH DESIGN; TREATMENT OUTCOME; YOUNG ADULT;

EID: 84895070642     PISSN: 02681315     EISSN: 14735857     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1097/YIC.0000000000000013     Document Type: Article

References (24)

1. Andrews G (2001). Placebo response in depression: Bane of research, boon to therapy. Br J Psychiatry 178:192-194.
2. Bark N (2001). Placebo response in depression. Br J Psychiatry 179:79.
3. Brunoni AR, Lopes M, Kaptchuk TJ, Fregni F (2009). Placebo response of nonpharmacological and pharmacological trials in major depression: A systematic review and meta-analysis. PLoS One 4:e4824.
4. Denninger JW, van Nieuwenhuizen AO, Wisniewski SR, Luther JF, Trivedi MH, Rush AJ, et al. (2011). Changes in depressive symptoms and social functioning in the sequenced treatment alternatives to relieve depression study. J Nerv Ment Dis 199:807-810.
5. Fava M, Evins AE, Dorer DJ, Schoenfeld DA (2003). The problem of the placebo response in clinical trials for psychiatric disorders: Culprits, possible remedies, and a novel study design approach. Psychother Psychosom 72:115-127.
6. Folker H, Folker AP (2008). WHO-5 as a simple method for measuring quality of life in daily psychiatric clinics. Ugeskr Laeger 170:830-834.
7. Gomeni R, Merlo-Pich E (2007). Bayesian modelling and ROC analysis to predict placebo responders using clinical score measured in the initial weeks of treatment in depression trials. Br J Clin Pharmacol 63:595-613.
8. Gomeni R, Lavergne A, Merlo-Pich E (2009). Modelling placebo response in depression trials using a longitudinal model with informative dropout. Eur J Pharm Sci 36:4-10.
9. Hirschfeld RM , Mallinckrodt C, Lee TC, Detke MJ (2005). Time course of depression-symptom improvement during treatment with duloxetine. Depress Anxiety 21:170-177.
10. Jacquot C, David DJ, Gardier AM, Sánchez C (2007). Escitalopram and citalopram: The unexpected role of the R-enantiomer. Encephale 33:179-187.
11. Katz MM, Tekell JL, Bowden CL, Brannan S, Houston JP, Berman N, Frazer A (2 004). Onset and early behavioral effects of pharmacologically different antidepressants and placebo in depression. Neuropsychopharmacology 29:566-579.
12. Khan A, Leventhal RM, Khan SR, Brown WA (2002). Severity of depression and response to antidepressants and placebo: An analysis of the Food and Drug Administration database. J Clin Psychopharmacol 22:40-45.
13. Montgomery S, Hansen T, Kasper S (2011). Efficacy of escitalopram compared to citalopram: A meta-analysis. Int J Neuropsychopharmacol 14:261-268.
14. Montgomery S, Hansen T (1979). A new depression scale designed to be sensitive to change. Br J Psychiatry 134:382-389.
15. Montgomery S (1999). The failure of placebo controlled studies: ECNP Consensus Meeting. Eur Neuropsychopharmacol 9:271-276.
16. Nemeroff CB (2007). The burden of severe depression: A review of diagnostic challenges and treatment alternatives. J Psychiatr Res 41:189-206.
17. Rihmer Z, Gonda X (2008). Is drug-placebo difference in short-term antidepressant drug trials on unipolar major depression much greater than previously believed J Affect Disord 108:195-198.
18. Robinson DS, Rickels K (2000). Concerns about clinical drug trials. J Clin Psychopharmacol 20:593-596.
19. Ross DC, Quitkin FM, Klein DF (2002). A typological model for estimation of drug and placebo effects in d epression. J Clin Psychopharmacol 22: 414-418.
20. Rutherford B, Sneed J, Devanand D, Eisenstadt R, Roose S (2010). Antidepressant study design affects patient expectancy: A pilot study. Psychol Med 40:781-788.
21. Sheehan DV, Harnett-Sheehan K, Raj BA (1996). The measurement of disability. Int Clin Psychopharmacol 11 (Suppl 3):89-95.
22. Sneed JR, Rutherford BR, Rindskopf D, L ane DT, Sackeim HA, Roose SP (2008). Design makes a difference: A meta-analysis of antidepressant response rates in placebo-controlled versus comparator trials in late-life depression. Am J Geriatr Psychiatry 16:65-73.
23. Uher R, Perlis RH, Placentino A, Dernovsek MZ, Henigsberg N, Mors O, et al. (2012). Self-report and clinician-rated measures of depression severity: Can one replace the other Depress Anxiety 29:1043-1049.
24. Walsh BT, Seidman SN, Sysko R, Gould M (2002). Placebo response in studies of major depression: Variable, substantial, and growing. JAMA 287: 1840-1847.