A surveillance study of escitalopram treatment of depressed patients

Abstrakt

The aim of this surveillance study was to assess the tolerability of, and response to 6.month treatment with escitalopram in 525 psychiatric out-patient clinics in the Czech Republic. Clinical response was evaluated using the Zung Depression Rating Scale and the Clinical Impressions--Improvement scale.

The patients showed an improvement in their severity of depression, with a response rate of 86.7% and a remission rate of 80.6% for patients completing 6 months of treatment. The most frequent adverse events were nausea, headache and sweating. 3.7% of patients withdrew from the study because of non-response and/or worsening of psychopathology.