Possible predictors of response to clonazepam augmentation therapy in patients with protracted depression

• Published in: Human psychopharmacology 2007-01, Vol.22 (1), p.27-31
• Main Authors: Morishita, Shigeru, Arita, Seizaburo
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Anticonvulsants - administration & dosage; antidepressant; Antidepressive Agents - administration & dosage; Bipolar Disorder - diagnosis; Bipolar Disorder - drug therapy; Bipolar Disorder - genetics; Bipolar Disorder - psychology; Chronic Disease; clonazepam; Clonazepam - administration & dosage; Cohort Studies; depression; Depressive Disorder, Major - diagnosis; Depressive Disorder, Major - drug therapy; Depressive Disorder, Major - genetics; Depressive Disorder, Major - psychology; dosage; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Drug Therapy, Combination; family history; Female; GABA Modulators - administration & dosage; Humans; Japan; Male; Middle Aged; Personality Inventory; predictor; Retrospective Studies; Treatment Outcome
• ISSN: 0885-6222; 1099-1077
• DOI: 10.1002/hup.818

Introduction Clonazepam has been shown to be an effective supplementary treatment for depression. Thus, it would be useful to determine which patient characteristics are associated with response to clonazepam. Aims The purpose of this study was to examine the possible predictors of response to clonazepam in the treatment of depression. Method A retrospective cohort analysis was carried out in 120 patients with protracted depression who were being treated with clonazepam. Results A variety of clinical factors, including age, gender, type of depression, frequency of episodes, family history; and daily dose of clonazepam, were analyzed as possible predictors of response to clonazepam. A Weibull regression analysis showed that the factors that best predicted improvement with clonazepam augmentation were negative family history of psychiatric illness (ecoef = 0.378), daily clonazepam dose of 2.5–4.0 mg (ecoef = 0.160), and unipolar depression (ecoef = 0.147). Conclusions These factors should be considered when clonazepam augmentation therapy is selected for protracted depression. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.