Youth depression: two treatments no better than one
​​​​​​​But there may be benefit for those with comorbid anxiety, say Australian researchers
Adding fluoxetine to CBT offers no benefit over adding placebo pills in young people with moderate or severe major depressive disorder, Australian research shows.
But there may be a benefit to using CBT and fluoxetine together in young people with comorbid anxiety, the results of the YoDA-C trial suggest.
Melbourne researchers looked at the effect on depression of CBT plus 20mg fluoxetine compared with CBT plus placebo pills in 153 young people aged 15-25 over 12 weeks.
All participants had scores greater than 20 on the Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) — scores of 20-34 indicate moderate depression while a score greater than 34 implies severe depression.
