Efficacy of fluoxetine combined with low doses of olanzapine on refractory depression-a randomized controlled study

Objective To evaluate the clinical efficacy of fluoxetine combined with low doses of olanzapine in the treatment of refractory depression.Methods 64 patients with refractory depression were randomly divided into study group(32 cases treated with fluoxetine combined with low doses of olanzapine for 8 weeks) and control group(32 cases treated with fluoxetine monotherapy for 8 weeks).All patients were assessed with Hamilton Depression Scale(HAMD) at baseline and the 1st,2nd,4th,8th weekend to evaluate the efficacy.Treatment Emergent Symptoms Scale(TESS) and laboratory examinations was used to assess safety.Results Compared with the baseline,score of HAMD in both groups decreased significantly form the 2nd week of the treatment(P 0.05).Score of HAMD in study group were significantly lower than that in control group at the end of the 1st,2nd,4th,8th week of the treatment(P 0.05).The response rate in study group were significantly higher than that in control group(46.88% vs.21.88%,P 0.01).No severe side effects was found in both groups,and there was no significant difference in incidence rate of side effects between the two groups(P 0.05).Conclusion Low dose of olanzapine combined with fluoxetine has good effect on refractory depression.