A comparative study of different doses of aripiprazole combined with sertraline in the treatment of depression

Objective To compare the efficacy and safety of different doses of aripiprazole combined with sertraline in the treatment of depression. Methods Eighty-six patients with depression were divided into four groups: control group (n=22), aripiprazole 5 mg group (n=24), aripiprazole 10 mg group (n=21), and aripiprazole 15 mg group (n=19), The two groups were given aripiprazole 0 mg, 5 mg, 10 mg, 15 mg as adjunctive therapy based on sertraline for 8 weeks, respectively. The efficacy was assessed by Hamilton depression rating scale (HAMD) and the safety was assessed by Treatment Emergent Symptom Scale (TESS) before treatment, at the end of 2 nd , 4 th , 6 th , 8 th week of treatment. Results The Aripiprazole 15 mg group completed only 21.1%, and its dropout rate showed statistically significant difference with other groups (P0.01), while the completion status of Aripiprazole 5 mg group, Aripiprazole 10 mg group was not significantly different from that of the control group (P0.05). The HAMD total scores of the control group, Aripiprazole 5 mg group and Aripiprazole 10 mg group at the end of 2 nd , 4 th , 8 th week of treatment were significantly reduced compared with before treatment (P0.05). After 8 weeks of treatment, the overall efficacy in the control group, Aripiprazole 5 mg group and Aripiprazole 10 mg group showed no statistically significant difference (P0.05), but the scores in Aripiprazole 5 mg group and Aripiprazole 10 mg group at the end of 2 nd week was significantly lower than those in the control group (P0.05). The incidence of adverse reactions, such as headache and akathisia, in high-dose group was significantly higher than the low-dose group and the control group (P0.05). Conclusion Aripiprazole combined with sertraline in the treatment of depression can increase the speed of onset of antidepressant, and we recommend small dose.