Poor response to antidepressant medication of patients with depression accompanied by somatic symptomatology in the STAR*D Study

Studies suggest that the gender difference in the prevalence of depression results because women exhibit higher prevalence than men of a depressive phenotype associated with somatic symptoms. Because this phenotype has been found to be based in psychosocial forces, it may not respond well to antidepressant medication. In this study, data from the STAR*D Study were analyzed to compare remission rates in response to an SSRI and to several other antidepressants of patients exhibiting depression accompanied by somatic symptomatology versus other patients. Scores on the Clinician Rated Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology were used to measure clinical remission in response to medication. Patients exhibiting depression accompanied by somatic symptomatology exhibited less remission to the SSRI Citalopram (31% versus 43%) and to the various medications administered in level 3 (14% versus 25%) than did other patients in STAR*D. The low rates of remission in response to medication of patients exhibiting somatic symptomatology were not due to the greater proportion of women, nor to the greater proportion of patients exhibiting anxiety disorders, among patients exhibiting somatic symptomatology. Remission rates were found to be related to exhibiting somatic symptomatology not to exhibiting nonsomatic symptoms.