The effect of alexithymic features on response to antidepressant medication in patients with major depression
Depression and Anxiety, cilt.18, sa.2, ss.62-66, 2003 (Scopus)
- Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
- Cilt numarası: 18 Sayı: 2
- Basım Tarihi: 2003
- Doi Numarası: 10.1002/da.10117
- Dergi Adı: Depression and Anxiety
- Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Scopus
- Sayfa Sayıları: ss.62-66
- Anahtar Kelimeler: depression, alexithymia, antidepressant medication, response, paroxetine
- Sağlık Bilimleri Üniversitesi Adresli: Hayır
Özet
There has been no follow-up study regarding the effect of alexithymic features on antidepressant treatment. This study was planned to observe whether alexithymia effects short-term treatment outcome in depression. The study included 32 alexithymic and 33 nonalexithymic outpatients with major depression. Depression was assessed on the basis of the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV (SCID-I). Level of depression was measured using the 17-item Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAM-D). Alexithymia was screened using the Turkish version of Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20). All patients received 20 mg/d paroxetine for 10 weeks. Alexithymic and nonalexithymic patients were compared on the HAM-D scores, TAS-20 scores, and rate of response to antidepressant medication. The rate of responders, defined by a reduction of >50% from baseline in HAM-D total score, was 21.9% in the alexithymic group and 54.5% in the nonalexithymic group. Changes in the HAM-D scores were significantly correlated with the TAS-20 scores. TAS-20 scores dropped below 61 in only 31.2% of the alexithymic patients, and 68.8% of patients remained alexithymic. Whereas 50% of patients whose TAS-20 scores dropped below 61 responded to antidepressant medication, this rate was only 9.1% among patients who remained alexithymic. These findings indicated that the stability of alexithymic features had a negative effect on antidepressant treatment in depression. Depression and Anxiety 18:62-66, 2003. © 2003 Wiley-Liss, Inc.