Comment by Carlos Morra

ONSET OF CLINICAL ACTION OF ANTIDEPRESSANTS

Carlos Morra’s comment on Donald Klein’s comment on Martin M. Katz’s essay on the “Onset of clinical action of antidepressants”

I noted that Dr. Klein found that in his re-analysis of Dr. Katz’s data the onset of antidepressant action was not established until the second or third week of treatment. The findings in his re-analysis differ also from Professor Kasper’s, who found statistically significant change in the total score of the Hamilton Depression Scale during the first week (Kasper et a 2006) and suggested that antidepressant action can be seen during the 24 hours after the first dose.

Kasper S, Spadone C, Verpillat P, Angst J. Onset of action of escitalopram compared with other antidepressants: results of a pooled analysis. Int Clin Psychopharmacol. 20062; 1:105-10.

 

Carlos Morra
May 28, 2015