Table 1. Demographics and Symptom Severity of the Participants in this Study.

The 41 dysthymic patients did not differ significantly from the 39 healthy controls in age (p=0.97) or sex (χ²=0.508, df=1, p=0.47). At baseline, patients randomized to the duloxetine arm did not differ significantly from those randomized the placebo arm in age (p=0.44), symptom severity measured using either the HDRS (p=0.26) or the CDRS (p=0.76) scale, or lifetime history of Major Depressive Disorder (χ²=1.17, df=1, p=0.27). However, the sex composition differed significantly in the two treatment arms (χ²=7.152, df=1, p<0.01). By the end of the trial (i.e. Week 10), symptom severity had decreased significantly for both the duloxetine-treated patients (p<1.0*10⁻¹⁵ for HDRS scores and p<4.0*10⁻¹³ for CDRS scores) and placebo-treated patients (p<0.002 for HDRS scores and p<0.01 for CDRS scores). However, the duloxetine-treated compared with placebo-treated patients had significantly lower symptom severity (p<9.0*10⁻⁶ for HDRS scores and p<2.0*10⁻⁵ for CDRS scores). Furthermore, a significantly (χ²=15.14, df=1, p<0.0001) greater proportion of the duloxetine-treated patients had a remission of illness by the end of the trial. The average and standard deviation of age and symptom severity are shown in the table.

	Age (Years)	Sex	Symptom Severity (At Baseline)		Symptom Severity (At Week 10)		Lifetime MDD	Remitted at Week 10
			HDRS	CDRS	HDRS	CDRS
Healthy, N=39	39.55±10.26	22 Males	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	0	N/A
Duloxetine Arm, N=21	39.08±10.00	7 Males	20.66±4.09	37.62±8.16	5.76±3.12*	12.14±7.37*	13	15
Placebo Arm, N=20	40.82±10.81	15 Males	22.23±4.79	38.38±8.22	15.76±7.71	29.04±13.09	9	2

HDRS = Hamilton Depression Rating Scale; CDRS = Cornell Dysthymia Rating Scale; N/A = not applicable; MDD = Major Depressive disorder