To print: Select File and then Print from your browser's menu --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Title: Desvenlafaxine Improves Pain, Well Being, and Functioning in Depressed Patients: Presented at CPA URL: http://www.pslgroup.com/dg/217A3A.htm Doctor's Guide November 20, 2007
By Alison Palkhivala MONTREAL, CANADA -- November 20, 2007 -- Desvenlafaxine (Pristiq(R)) improves measures of pain, well-being, and functioning, according to a study presented in here at the 57th Annual Conference of the Canadian Psychiatric Association (CPA). "The idea was to look at males and females treated for depression to see how much treatment impacts functional well-being, social impairments, work impairments, family impairments, and pain," said author Claudio N. Soares, MD, PhD, Associate Professor of Psychiatry, director, Women's Clinic, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The investigators conducted a pooled analysis of six double-blind, placebo-controlled trials involving nearly 2,000 patients with major depressive disorder who were randomised to a 100- to 400-mg daily dose of desvenlafaxine or placebo for 8 weeks. Outcome measures were the Sheehan Disability Scale (SDS), World Health Organization Well-Being Index (WHO-5), and the Visual Analog Scale of Pain Intensity (VAS-PI). Patients were assessed using these measures at baseline, 2 weeks, 4 weeks, and 8 weeks. After 8 weeks of therapy, patients experienced significant improvements on all three measures compared with placebo (P <.001 in all three cases), Dr. Soares said during the poster presentation on November 16. Treatment with desvenlafaxine decreased social, family, and work impairments. It also improved emotional well-being and decreased pain in men and women," he said in an interview. "There was always a trend that it worked better in females than males, although this never reached statistical significance. This could be due to sample size." Interestingly, women over the age of 55 years had higher baseline pain scores than men or younger women. "Further studies are needed to determine potential contributing factors for increasing painful physical symptoms in women transitioning to menopause or postmenopause," the authors wrote in their poster. The pooled analysis was conducted in collaboration with Wyeth Research, which manufacturers Pristiq. [Presentation title: Efficacy of Desvenlafaxine Succinate for Improving the Pain and Impairment in Functioning and Well Being Associated With Depression in Younger, Midlife, and Older Women and Men. Poster P18] --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright © 1999 P\S\L Consulting Group Inc. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of P\S\L content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of P\S\L. P\S\L shall not be liable for any errors, omissions or delays in this content or any other content on its sites, newsletters or other publications, nor for any decisions or actions taken in reliance on such content. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This news story was printed from *Doctor's Guide to the Internet* located at http://www.docguide.com --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Return to News Story Page This site is maintained by webmaster@pslgroup.com Please contact us with any comments, problems or bugs. All contents Copyright (c) 1998 P\S\L Consulting Group Inc. All rights reserved.