LATENCY TO RAPID EYE-MOVEMENT SLEEP AS A PREDICTOR OF TREATMENT RESPONSE TO FLUOXETINE AND PLACEBO IN NONPSYCHOTIC DEPRESSED OUTPATIENTS

Fluoxetine and placebo were compared in 89 outpatients with major depr ession with (n = 45) or without (n = 44) a reduced or shortened rapid eye movement latency (SREML) (less than or equal to 65 minutes) to det ermine whether rapid eye movement latency (REML) predicted placebo and /or antidepressant response. Men and women were stratified based on po lysomnographic recordings and then randomly assigned to receive double -blind fluoxetine (20 mg/day) or placebo for 8 weeks after a 2-week, s ingle-blind, placebo lead-in period. Fluoxetine-treated patients demon strated a significantly greater reduction in the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression total score and a significantly greater response rate than placebo-treated patients in both the SREML and the combined strat a. Treatment differences in the non-SREML stratum were not statistical ly significant. Results supported REML as a predictor of placebo nonre sponse but did not predict a differential fluoxetine response in patie nts with SREML compared with patients without SREML.