Times to Discontinue Antidepressants Over 6 Months in Patients with Major Depressive Disorder.

ObjectiveaaThe aim of the present study was to investigate differences in discontinuation time among antidepressants and total antide pressant discontinuation rate of patients with depression over a 6 month period in a naturalistic treatment setting. MethodsaaWe reviewed the medical records of 900 patients with major depressive disorder who were initially prescribed only one kind of antidepressant. The prescribed antidepressants and the reasons for discontinuation were surveyed at baseline and every 4 weeks dur ing the 24 week study. We investigated the discontinuation rate and the mean time to discontinuation among six antidepressants groups. ResultsaaMean and median overall discontinuation times were 13.8 and 12 weeks, respectively. Sertraline and escitalopram had longer discontinuation times than that of fluoxetine, and patients who used sertraline discontinued use significantly later than those taking mirtazapine. No differences in discontinuation rate were observed after 24 weeks among these antidepressants. About 73% of patients discontinued antidepressant treatment after 24 weeks. ConclusionaaSertraline and escitalopram tended to have longer mean times to discontinuation, although no difference in discontinua tion rate was detected between antidepressants after 24 weeks. About three-quarters of patients discontinued antidepressant mainte nance therapy after 24 weeks.