Effectiveness and safety of venlafaxine extended release in elderly depressed patients

The main objectives of this multicenter, naturalistic, open-label study is to evaluate the effectiveness, tolerability and safety of venlafaxine extended release (VXR) in a sample of 59 patients older than 60 years of age diagnosed of depressive disorders in the primary care setting. VXR was administered for 24 weeks at daily doses ranging from 75 mg to 225 mg. Effectiveness measurements included the 17 items Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D17), the Clinical Global Impression Scales for Severity (CGI-S) and Improvement (CGI-I), the Visual Analogical Scale for Pain (P-VAS), and the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) scale. At the endpoint, VXR achieved response and remission rates of 81.6% and 59.2%, respectively. Treatment was associated with a significant improvement of the patient's condition (89.8% of patients were rated by physicians as “much/very much improved”). Painful physical symptoms (p < 0.0001) and cognitive state (p = 0.0017) scores decreased along the study. A total of 83% of patients completed the study. Seven adverse events were recorded for four patients (6.8% overall). Data of this study suggest that VXR could be an effective and safe therapeutic option in the treatment of geriatric depression, reducing also the associated painful physical symptoms.