Efficacy and tolerability of reboxetine in depressive patients treated in routine clinical practice

Reboxetine, a potent and selective noradrenaline reuptake inhibitor, has been approved for treatment of major depression. The aim of this study was to investigate the efficacy and tolerability of reboxetine in depressive outpatients undergoing treatment in routine clinical practice.

This post-marketing surveillance study was conducted to evaluate the therapeutic efficacy and tolerability of standard therapeutic doses of reboxetine in patients with depressive symptoms, particularly when administered in routine clinical practice. The 1835 patients (mean 54 years of age) evaluated showed demographic characteristics representative of the general depressive population. The majority of patients received the recommended dose of reboxetine 8 mg/day.

Measures of efficacy showed improvement in depressive symptoms with reboxetine therapy over the mean observational period of 9.6 weeks. Response to therapy, defined as Hamilton depression scale 21-item version score reduction of > or =50%, was reported in 83% of patients. The effects of reboxetine were rated by physicians as 'good' or 'very good' in 86% of patients at the last visit. The tolerability of reboxetine was rated by physicians as 'good' or 'very good' in 92% of patients at all evaluations. No adverse events that were possibly related to reboxetine therapy occurred in >1% of patients.

The results of this study suggest that reboxetine is safe and well tolerated and may improve symptoms in depressive patients treated in routine clinical practice.