Does pretreatment anxiety predict response to either bupropion SR or sertraline?

Background: A common clinical belief is that mol-e sedating and/or serotoni n-selective antidepressants are preferred for depressed patients with sympt oms of anxiety compared with more activating and/or catecholamine-selective antidepressants. The purpose of this study was to determine whether higher baseline anxiety is associated with different antidepressant responses to bupropion sustained release (SR) or sertraline. Methods: A retrospective da ta analysis was conducted using pooled data from two identical 8-week, rand omized, double-blind, placebo-controlled multicenter studies of bupropion S R (n = 234), sertraline (n = 225), and placebo (n = 233) in adult outpatien ts with recurrent, major depressive disorder. Anxiety symptoms were measure d using the 14-item Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale scores. Results: Baseline anxiety levels were not related to antidepressant response to treatment wi th either bupropion SR or sertraline, nor did they differentiate between re sponders to bupropion SR and responders to sertraline. Conclusions: Baselin e anxiety levels do not appear to be a basis for selecting between bupropio n SR and sertraline in the treatment of outpatients with major depressive d isorder. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.