Recovery from a recurrent major depressive episode

Episode-related factors and antidepressant treatment adequacy may be import ant determinants of recovery from a major depressive episode (AIDE), WE com pared recovered and nonrecovered patients on baseline sociodemographic, cli nical and episode-related measurements. Twenty-five inpatients with recurrent major depressive disorder diagnosed b y SADS-L participated in this naturalistic, prospective, longitudinal study . Recovery, which was defined as a sustained return to non-depressed status lasting greater than or equal to 8 consecutive weeks, was assessed at 6- a nd 12-month follow-up with the Streamlined Longitudinal Interval Continuati on Evaluation (SLICE), Thirteen (52%) patients met recovery criteria, The cumulative proportion re maining depressed for at least 52 weeks was 42.5%, Recovered patients had s houter episodes preceding the index hospitalization (P = .01), Despite adequate antidepressant pharmacotherapy, the length of the current episode remains the most important correlate of recovery from MDE recurrenc e, Our small sample size and the uncontrolled nature of treatment may limit the generalizability of these findings. (C) 2000 Wiley-Liss, Inc.