No abstract

The construct validity of the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) in measuring treatment outcome is assessed in 103 psychiatric inpatients. In this context, construct validity means that the BDI measures the same construct in repeated measurement and that the change scores can be explained by treatment effects. In confirmatory factor analyses, only the first factor proved to be stable. In accordance with other studies, the sensitivity to therapeutic change in long-term intervals of several weeks could be confirmed. Significant changes in a short-term interval of 1 day in the non-endogenously depressed patients indicate an overreactivity of the BDI to change which cannot be explained by treatment effects or mood changes.

No abstract

No abstract

Seventy inpatients with a DSM-III-R major depression were included in a double-blind, randomized, clinical trial to compare the efficacy and tolerability of moclobemide versus fluoxetine. After a 3-day placebo run-in phase, treatments were administered for 4 weeks in daily doses of between 300 and 600 mg of moclobemide or 20 to 40 mg of fluoxetine. Efficacy was measured by the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAM-D), Clinical Global Impression, and subjective mood ratings (45-item self-rating scale). Fifty-three patients (mean age, 40 years; 22 men, 31 women) completed the 4-week treatment. Changes between end of treatment and baseline did not differ between both study drugs. The HAM-D responder rate (50% improvement from baseline) was 59% in the moclobemide group and 58% in the fluoxetine group after 4 weeks. Moclobemide, however, acted therapeutically faster than fluoxetine. After 1 week of treatment, the HAM-D scores were significantly lower in patients on moclobemide than in those on fluoxetine (p < 0.005). The earlier efficacy of moclobemide after 1 week was also detected by the patients' subjective mood ratings (p < 0.02). There were no differences between moclobemide and fluoxetine regarding tolerability ratings. These data suggest that both agents have a similar efficacy and tolerability but that moclobemide has an earlier onset of antidepressive action.