ETHNIC-DIFFERENCES IN RESPONSE TO FLUOXETINE IN A CONTROLLED TRIAL WITH DEPRESSED HIV-POSITIVE PATIENTS

This study examined ethnic differences in response to antidepressant t reatment. One hundred eighteen depressed HIV-positive patients entered an eight-week controlled trial of fluoxetine. Nineteen percent were b lack and 14 percent were Latino; the remaining two-thirds were white. Attrition was greater among Latinos than either blacks or whites. Blac k patients were more likely than whites to be nonresponders to fluoxet ine. Latinos were more likely to respond to placebo compared with blac ks and whites. Ethnic groups did not differ in the presence of treatme nt-emergent side effects.