OBJECTIVE: To investigate patient predictors of response to treatment of Major Depressive Episode (MDE) in Alzheimer's disease (AD). METHODS:Forty-four outpatients with AD and MDE were randomized to receive either sertraline or placebo in a 12-week placebo-controlled, flexible-dose clinical trial after a one week single-blind placebo phase. All participants were evaluated for depression at entry using the 21-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS) and the Cornell Scale for Depression in Dementia (CSDD). All subjects completed baseline neuropsychological testing. Caregiver burden and depression were also measured. The forty-two subjects who completed at least one post-enrollment follow-up visit were included in the analysis. RESULTS: No baseline demographic, mood, neuropsychiatric, neuropsychological, or caregiver variable was a statistically significant predictor of response to treatment. There were trends for African-American patients (p=0.07) and those with milder baseline agitation/aggression (p=0.08) to respond better. CONCLUSION: No baseline characteristic assessed clearly predicts response to treatment of MDE in AD. A diverse population of depressed AD patients may thus respond similarly to the same treatment. Copyright 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
RCT Entities:
OBJECTIVE: To investigate patient predictors of response to treatment of Major Depressive Episode (MDE) in Alzheimer's disease (AD). METHODS: Forty-four outpatients with AD and MDE were randomized to receive either sertraline or placebo in a 12-week placebo-controlled, flexible-dose clinical trial after a one week single-blind placebo phase. All participants were evaluated for depression at entry using the 21-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS) and the Cornell Scale for Depression in Dementia (CSDD). All subjects completed baseline neuropsychological testing. Caregiver burden and depression were also measured. The forty-two subjects who completed at least one post-enrollment follow-up visit were included in the analysis. RESULTS: No baseline demographic, mood, neuropsychiatric, neuropsychological, or caregiver variable was a statistically significant predictor of response to treatment. There were trends for African-American patients (p=0.07) and those with milder baseline agitation/aggression (p=0.08) to respond better. CONCLUSION: No baseline characteristic assessed clearly predicts response to treatment of MDE in AD. A diverse population of depressed ADpatients may thus respond similarly to the same treatment. Copyright 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Authors: Lea T Drye; Zahinoor Ismail; Anton P Porsteinsson; Paul B Rosenberg; Daniel Weintraub; Christopher Marano; Gregory Pelton; Constantine Frangakis; Peter V Rabins; Cynthia A Munro; Curtis L Meinert; D P Devanand; Jerome Yesavage; Jacobo E Mintzer; Lon S Schneider; Bruce G Pollock; Constantine G Lyketsos Journal: Alzheimers Dement Date: 2012-02-01 Impact factor: 21.566