A naturalistic study comparing two initial duloxetine dosing strategies in a clinical "real world" setting

Aims. To compare, in a "real world" setting, the efficacy and tolerability of two initial duloxetine starting doses: 30 mg once daily (q.d.) for 1 week, followed by escalation to 60 mg q.d. versus 60 mg q.d. without titolation, evaluating expecially the effects on sexual dysfunction. Methods. The sample is constituted by outpatients meeting diagnostic criteria for mild-severe (HAMD 17 ≥24 and CGI-S ≥4) Major Depressive Episode as defined by DSM-IV-TR (Diagnostic and Statistic Manual for Mental Disorder, Fourth Edition-Text Revision), based on the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV-TR (Mini International Neuropsychiatrie Interview, MINI). The study design planned an initial evaluation and 4 follow-up visits; at each visit the following scales were administered: Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAMD 17) and Anxiety (HAMA), Clinical Global Impression Severity Scale (CGI-S) for severity evaluation and Arizona Sexual Experience Scale (ASEX) for sexual disfunction evaluation. Resu...