Patterns of depressive symptom response in duloxetine-treated outpatients with mild, moderate or more severe depression

Summary Aims: This was a post hoc analysis to determine whether baseline severity of depression influenced the efficacy of duloxetine in treating major depressive disorder (MDD) and to better characterise the symptom response profile for duloxetine in patients with mild, moderate or more severe depression. Methods: Data were pooled from four double‐blind, placebo‐controlled studies in which outpatients with MDD were randomised to duloxetine (60 mg/day) or placebo for 8–9 weeks. Patients were retrospectively stratified according to baseline 17‐item Hamilton Depression Rating scale (HAMD17) total scores: mild = total score ≤ 19 (duloxetine, n = 246; placebo, n = 184); moderate = 20–24 (duloxetine, n = 333; placebo, n = 217); severe = 25+ (duloxetine, n = 127; placebo, n = 87). Results: Duloxetine produced significantly greater baseline‐to‐end‐point improvement vs. placebo (p