Treatment and outcomes for patients with depression who are partial responders to SSRI treatment: Post-hoc analysis findings from the FINDER European observational study

Abstract Background Remission is the goal in depression, but in practice many patients only experience a partial response to treatment. We sought to determine the prevalence, management and subsequent outcomes of partial responder patients. Methods Patients enrolled in the naturalistic Factors Influencing Depression Endpoints Research (FINDER) study with the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale depression subscale (HADS-D) score >10 at baseline who received only SSRI(s) between 0 and 3 months comprised the study cohort ( n =1147). Patients were categorized as remitters, partial responders or non-responders at 3 months and then followed up at 6 months. Results At 3 months, 29.4% of the study population were considered non-responders, 27.6% were partial responders, and 39.3% were remitters. Most partial responders at 3 months remained on the same SSRI for the next 3 months. Of the 247 partial responders at 3 months and remained on the same SSRI(s) between 3 and 6 months, 10.9% met criteria for non-response at 6 months, 32.4% remained partial responders, and 56.3% achieved remission. Quality of life outcomes for the partial responders were significantly worse than those in remission ( p