Baseline patient characteristics associated with placebo remission and their impact on remission with duloxetine and selected SSRI antidepressants

Abstract

Objective: We examined whether identification of patients with placebo-remitter characteristics and placebo-nonremitter characteristics enhances the ability to identify drug-placebo treatment differences and, perhaps, differences between agents in major depressive disorder (MDD). We hypothesized: 1) that drug-placebo differences in remission rates would be greater for both duloxetine and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) among placebo nonremitters than placebo remitters and: 2) that the difference between active treatments would also be greater in placebo nonremitters than placebo remitters. Data and methods: Data were obtained from seven randomized, parallel, double-blind MDD ..