Evaluation of Emotional Adverse Effects of Antidepressants

Abstract

Purpose/Background Emotional adverse effects due to antidepressant use may cause difficulties for the clinician in the treatment of depression. In this prospective study, the emotional adverse effects of antidepressants were evaluated in various aspects. Methods/Procedures Ninety eight patients diagnosed with major depressive disorder were included in the study. At 2nd, 4th, 8th, 12th, and 16th weeks, patients were assessed with Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS), and the antidepressant dose was increased in patients with less than a 50% reduction at each visit compared with the initial MADRS score. The Oxford Questionnaire on the Emotional Side-effects of Antidepressants (OQESA) was used at the 8th-week and 16th-week visits. Findings/Results A significant difference is found in the OQESA score at the 8th-week visit compared with the 16th-week assessment (P < 0.001, t = 5.73). There were significant correlations between MADRS scores and OQESA scores both at the 8th (r = 0.346, P = 0.05) and the 16th (r = 0.490, P < 0.001) weeks. In regression analyses, at eighth-week assessment, MADRS score (B = 1.487, P = 0.002) and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor use (B = 14.014, P = 0.023) had a significantly predicted OQESA score. Implications/Conclusions In this study, it is found that, as the rate of remitted patients is increased, OQESA scores get decreased, and furthermore, the OQESA score of the remitted group is statistically low when compared with that of the nonremitted group at the 8th- and 16th-week visits. Oxford Questionnaire on the Emotional Side-effects of Antidepressants and MADRS scores are significantly correlated in all assessments. These results suggest that the score obtained from OQESA may be related not only to the emotional adverse effects of antidepressants but also to the residual symptoms of depression.

Emotional Blunting in Depression in the PREDDICT Clinical Trial: Inflammation-Stratified Augmentation of Vortioxetine With Celecoxib

“…However, because emotional blunting scores highly correlated with depression severity, it has been concluded that emotional blunting cannot solely be attributed to a medication side effect but should also be considered as a residual symptom of depression ( Goodwin et al, 2017 ). The latter has also been discussed in another study, where emotional blunting scores correlated with MADRS scores and were found to be lower in remitted than in nonremitted patients ( Aşçibaşi et al, 2020 ). Emotional blunting remains an important concern during antidepressant treatment ( Jawad et al, 2023 ).…”

Can antidepressant use be associated with emotional blunting in a subset of patients with depression? A scoping review of available literature

“…The authors suggested that emotional blunting is a symptom of depression, which is not measured adequately by conventional scales, such as MADRS (Corruble et al., 2013). Another study revealed that the OQESA score tends to be lower in remitted patients when compared with the non‐remitted group indicating that the scores obtained may not be related to adverse effects of medicines but could be residual symptoms of depression (Aşçibaşi et al., 2020). Moreover, a similar study reported statistically significant correlations between MADRS and OQESA scores at the 8th ( r = 0.346, p = 0.05) and 16th week of antidepressant treatment ( r = 0.490, p < 0.001), respectively (Aşçibaşi et al., 2020).…”