The following is a summary of “Real-world clinical outcomes and treatment patterns in patients with MDD treated with vortioxetine: a retrospective study,” published in the December 2023 issue of Psychiatry by McDaniel et al.
Researchers conducted a retrospective study to evaluate the effectiveness of vortioxetine for treating adults with major depressive disorder (MDD) in a real-world setting, using patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs).
They examined the care experiences of adult patients diagnosed with MDD at Parkview Physicians Group – Mind-Body Medicine in the Midwestern US. Inclusion criteria encompassed patients with vortioxetine prescriptions, an initial baseline visit, and ≥ 2 follow-up visits within 16 weeks (September 2014 and December 2018). The primary outcomes were vortioxetine’s impact on depression severity (PHQ-9 scores at 12 weeks), and secondary outcomes were changes in depression-related symptoms, clinical characteristics, response, remission, and medication persistence. Clinical notes were examined for sleep, sexual function, appetite, absenteeism, and presenteeism. Outcomes were assessed at the index and around 12 weeks, with mean differences analyzed using pairwise t-tests.
The results showed that 63.9% of the 1,242 included patients with MDD had ≥3 psychiatric diagnoses, and 65.9% were taking ≥3 medications. PHQ-9 mean scores significantly decreased from baseline to week 12 (14.15 ± 5.8 to 9.62 ± 6.03, respectively; P<0.001). At week 12, response and remission rates for all patients were 31.0% and 23.1%, respectively, with 67% continuing vortioxetine treatment. Overall, significant improvements were observed by week 12 in anxiety (P<0.001), sexual dysfunction (P<0.01), sleep disturbance (P<0.01), cognitive function (P<0.001), work/social functioning (P=0.021), and appetite (P<0.001). Week 12 also saw a significant decrease in presenteeism (P<0.001), while no significant change was observed in absenteeism (P=0.466).
They concluded that vortioxetine eased depression in real-world MDD patients with complex issues, even after prior treatments failed, as measured by their reports.
Source: bmcpsychiatry.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12888-023-05439-8