Six months of desipramine for dysthymia: can dysthymic patients achieve normal social functioning?

Background: There is evidence that antidepressant medication improves socia l dysfunction during acute treatment in dysthymic patients but it is unknow n if the gain in social functioning persists or progresses with longer-term antidepressant treatment. We examine the effect of 6 months of desipramine treatment on social functioning in dysthymic patients. Methods: Forty-six subjects with DSM-III-R dysthymia (70% with superimposed major depression) who had responded to 10 weeks of open-label desipramine (DMI) treatment rec eived 16 additional weeks of continuation DMI. Social functioning was measu red at weeks 0, 10 and 26 with the Social Adjustment Scale-Self Report. Res ults: Euthymia was maintained and a marginally significant trend for furthe r improvement in overall social functioning appeared during continuation tr eatment. Only 24% of subjects achieved normative level of social adjustment after 6 months of DMI treatment. Limitations: The main limitation was the lack of a placebo control group. Conclusion: Acute improvement in social fu nctioning persists during continuation treatment. However, most dysthymic p atients did not: achieve a community level of social adjustment. Significan t social dysfunction persists in dysthymic patients with low levels of depr essive symptomatology after 6 months of intense DMI treatment. (C) 1999 Els evier Science B.V. All rights reserved.