Table 2.
Characteristics of patients included in the analyses (placebo arms)
| Total (n=440) |
Duloxetine P3 trial (n=145) | Mirtazapine P3 trial (n=70) | Escitalopram P2 trial (n=101) | Escitalopram P3 trial (n=124) | |||||||
| Mean | SD | Missing | Mean | SD | Mean | SD | Mean | SD | Mean | SD | |
| Female (%) | 47.5 | 0 | 45.5 | 44.3 | 47.5 | 51.6 | |||||
| Inpatient (%) | 0.9 | 0 | 0.7 | 4.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | |||||
| Age at onset (years) | 34.0 | 11.4 | 2 | 35.3 | 11.3 | 36.3 | 13.1 | 32.4 | 9.5 | 32.3 | 11.7 |
| Age at baseline (years) | 37.4 | 10.8 | 0 | 38.7 | 10.5 | 39.9 | 12.8 | 35.0 | 8.9 | 36.4 | 10.7 |
| Time since first onset (years) | 3.5 | 5.0 | 2 | 3.4 | 5.2 | 3.9 | 5.8 | 2.6 | 3.7 | 4.0 | 5.2 |
| No. of previous episodes: | |||||||||||
| 1 (%) | 61.1 | 6 | 61.4 | 70.3 | 59.4 | 57.3 | |||||
| 2 (%) | 22.8 | 6 | 22.1 | 20.3 | 27.7 | 21.0 | |||||
| 3 or more (%) | 16.1 | 6 | 16.6 | 9.4 | 12.9 | 21.8 | |||||
| Duration of current episode (weeks) | 44.9 | 66.3 | 6 | 44.7 | 21.4 | 54.7 | 77.5 | 24.6 | 46.9 | 56.4 | 97.6 |
| HRSD (17 items) at baseline | 21.1 | 4.1 | 0 | 20.4 | 4.2 | 22.5 | 3.6 | 22.5 | 3.6 | 20.0 | 4.2 |
| Melancholic (%) | 84.6 | 70 | 86.9 | – | – | 85.1 | – | 81.5 | – | ||
| Anhedonia/retardation | 7.6 | 1.7 | 0 | 7.4 | 1.8 | 8.0 | 1.8 | 8.1 | 1.4 | 7.4 | 1.8 |
| Bodily symptoms | 3.8 | 1.5 | 0 | 3.9 | 1.4 | 3.9 | 1.3 | 3.9 | 1.4 | 3.4 | 1.6 |
| Insomnia | 3.0 | 1.7 | 0 | 2.7 | 1.7 | 3.3 | 1.8 | 3.1 | 1.7 | 3.2 | 1.6 |
| Any stress (%) | 76.0 | 215 | – | – | 86.1 | 67.7 | |||||
| Score of stress (0–9) | 1.1 | 0.9 | 215 | – | – | 1.2 | 0.8 | 1.0 | 1.0 | ||
| Comorbidity of physical illness (%) | 61.6 | 0 | 67.6 | 48.6 | 50.5 | 71.0 | |||||
| Prior use of antidepressants (%) | 31.5 | 145 | -– | 18.6 | 17.8 | 50.0 | |||||
| Number of antidepressants | 0.7 | 1.1 | 202 | – | 2.1 | 0.9 | 0.3 | 0.6 | 0.9 | 1.2 | |
| Use of rescue medication (%) | 56.4 | 0 | 47.6 | 35.7 | 72.3 | 65.3 | |||||
HRSD, Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression.