Venlafaxine in the Treatment of Moderate and Severe Depression: Approaches to Increasing Treatment Efficacy

Objective. TO identify the factors influencing the efficacy of venlafaxine in moderate and severe depression. Materials and methods. An observational study was performed in the conditions of real clinical practice. A total of 62 patients with depression (21 men and 41 women, aged 19–61 years) treated with venlafaxine were studied. Treatment was continued for 84 days (initially in hospital and then in out-patient conditions). The initial venlafaxine dose was 75 mg/day and the mean therapeutic dose was 225 mg/day. Patients’ status was evaluated using a clinical psychopathological approach method and various scales – (MADRS, Beck scale, CGI, UKU). Results and conclusions. Study drug was found to display high efficacy in the treatment of severe and moderate depression. Venlafaxine was most effective in the treatment of anxious depression and least effective in hypochondriac depression. Use of rapidly increasing doses in the treatment of severe and moderate depression generated treatment responses in shorter periods of time without reducing the tolerance of the agent. © 2016, Springer Science+Business Media New York.