An Open Assessment of the Efficacy and Safety of Venlafaxine (EFEXOR) in Patients with Major Depression / 신경정신의학

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: A Multicenter open-label study was conducted to evaluate the clinical efficacy and safety of venlafaxine for the treatment in patients with major depression. METHOD: The study was done in patients with major depression diagnosed by DSM-IV who accepted venlafaxine medication. In cases of the patients taking other antidepressants, 6 weeks of venlafaxine medication was carried out after 14 days of drug excretion period and evaluation using HAM-D, MADRS, and CGI was done at baseline, and after 1, 2, 4, and 6 weeks. Regarding all side effects that had occurred during the period of our study such as their developed/disappeared time, severities, incidences, relationship with venlafaxine, managements and results have been putted into the records. RESULTS: A total of 141 patients were enrolled. Among 94 of them finished the 6 weeks of research and 41 of them did not make it through the research. Total HAM-D scores showed significant decrease after 1 week of venlafaxine medication and continous decrease through the study period. Total scores of MADRS also showed significant improvement after 1 week and continuous decrease through the study period. Similarly, CGI showed significant improvement between baseline, 1, 2, 4, and 6 weeks. There were no significant changes in vital sign, CBC, chemistry, and EKG. The commonly reported side effects of venlafaxine were nausea (10.6%), indigestion (9.5%), constipation (8.5%), and dizziness (8.5%). CONCLUSION: According to the results, venlafaxine was effective and safe in the treatment of patients with major depression.