Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-8ctnn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-22T15:57:06.405Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Correlation of Clinical Features of Depressed Out-Patients with Response to Amitriptyline and Protriptyline

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

N. McConaghy
Affiliation:
School of Psychiatry
A. D. Joffe
Affiliation:
Department of Statistics, University of New South Wales, Sydney
W. R. Kingston
Affiliation:
Alfred Hospital, Melbourne
H. G. Stevenson
Affiliation:
Alfred Hospital, Melbourne
I. Atkinson
Affiliation:
Alfred Hospital, Melbourne
E. Cole
Affiliation:
Alfred Hospital, Melbourne
L. A. Fennessy
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, St. Vincent's, Melbourne

Extract

Considerable inconsistency exists in the literature concerning the clinical features of depression associated with a good response to anti-depressant medication. Abraham et al. (1963) summarized the literature to that date; the general consensus of opinion was that imipramine had its best effect in depressions of the endogenous rather than those of the neurotic type, but their study on depressed out-patients did not support this conclusion. Browne et al. (1963), working with in-patients, reported that reactive depressives showed a better response to amitriptyline than did endogenous depressives. Burt et al. (1962), in their report of the response of 73 depressed female in-patients treated with imipramine or amitriptyline, demonstrated a much better response to both drugs by reactive as compared with endogenous depressives. Spear et al. (1964) found no significant difference in respect to “endogenicity”, in the response of depressed in- and out-patients to tranylcypromine and imipramine. Richmond and Roberts (1964) reported that out-patients suffering from endogenous depression responded much better to a variety of anti-depressant drugs than did those suffering from reactive depression.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1968 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abraham, H. C., Kanter, V. B., Rosen, I., and Standen, J. L. (1963). “A controlled clinical trial of imipramine (Tofranil) with out-patients.” Brit. J. Psychiat., 109, 286293.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Browne, M. W., Kreeger, L. C., and Kazamias, N. G. (1963). “A clinical trial of amitriptyline in treatment of depressive states.” Ibid., 109, 692694.Google Scholar
Burt, C. G., Gordon, W. F., Holt, N. F., and Hordern, A. (1962). “Amitriptyline in depressive states: A controlled trial.” J. ment. Sci., 108, 711730.Google Scholar
Clinical Psychiatry Committee of the Medical Research Council (1965). “Clinical trial of the treatment of depressive illness.” Brit. med. J., i, 881886.Google Scholar
Fleminger, J. J., and Groden, B. M. (1962). “Clinical features of depression and the response to imipramine (Tofranil).” J. ment. Sci., 108, 101104.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hamilton, M. H., and White, J. M. (1960). “Factors related to the outcome of depression treated with E.C.T.” Ibid., 106, 10311041.Google Scholar
Hobson, R. F. (1953). “Prognostic factors in electric convulsive therapy.” J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiat., 16, 275281.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kiloh, L. G., Ball, J. R. B., and Garside, R. F. (1962). “Prognostic factors in treatment of depressive states with imipramine.” Brit. med. J., i, 12251227.Google Scholar
Kiloh, L. G., and Garside, R. F. (1963). “The independence of neurotic and endogenous depression.” Brit. J. Psychiat., 109 451463.Google Scholar
McConaghy, N., Kingston, W. R., Stevenson, H. G., Atkinson, I., Cole, E., and Fennessy, L. A. (1965). “A controlled trial comparing amitriptyline and protriptyline in the treatment of out-patient depressives.” Med. J. Aust., ii, 403405.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McConaghy, N., Joffe, A. D., and Murphy, B. (1966). “The independence of neurotic and endogenous depression.” Brit. J. Psychiat., 113, 479484.Google Scholar
Mendels, J. (1965). “Electroconvulsive therapy and depression: II. Significance of endogenous and reactive depression.” Brit. J. Psychiat., 111, 682686.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mendels, J. (1965). “Electroconvulsive therapy and depression: III. A method for prognosis.” Ibid., 111, 687690.Google Scholar
Richmond, P. W., and Roberts, A. H. (1964). “A comparative trial of imipramine, amitriptyline, isocarboxazid and tranylcypromine in out-patient depressive illness.” Ibid., 110, 846850.Google Scholar
Spear, F. G., Hall, P., and Stirland, J. D. (1964). “A comparison of subjective responses to imipramine and tranylcypromine.” Ibid., 110, 5355.Google Scholar
Wechsler, H., Grosser, G. H., and Greenblatt, M. (1965). “Research evaluating antidepressant medications on hospitalized mental patients: a survey of published reports during a five-year period.” J. nerv. ment. Dis., 141, 231239.Google Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.