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Table 1 Patient characteristics at baseline

From: Effect of mirtazapine versus selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors on benzodiazepine use in patients with major depressive disorder: a pragmatic, multicenter, open-label, randomized, active-controlled, 24-week trial

Variable

Mirtazapine

(n = 27)

SSRIs

(n = 50)

P

Sertraline

(n = 32)

Paroxetine

(n = 18)

P

Male patients, n (%)

18 (66.7)

32 (64.0)

nsc

20 (62.5)

12 (66.7)

nsc

Age, mean (SD), years

38.9 (10.5)

40.4 (13.8)

nsa

39.7 (13.3)

41.7 (14.9)

nsb

Age at onset, mean (SD), years

38.1 (10.5)

39.3 (13.1)

nsa

39.0 (12.5)

39.8 (14.5)

nsb

Duration of illness, median [quartiles], week

30.0 [8.0–104.0]

20.0 [12.0–71.0]

nsa

20.0 [8.0–58.5]

19.0 [12.0–117.0]

nsb

Duration of current episode, median [quartiles], week

12.0 [7.0–40.0]

12.0 [8.0–34.0]

nsa

14.0 [7.3–44.0]

12.0 [12.0–21.0]

nsb

Depressive episodes

  

nsc

  

nsc

 Single, n (%)

22 (81.5)

42 (84.0)

 

28 (87.5)

14 (77.8)

 

 Recurrent, n (%)d

5 (18.5)

8 (16.0)

 

4 (12.5)

4 (22.2)

 

Past history of using any psychiatric services, n (%)

4 (14.8)

15 (30.0)

nsc

11 (34.4)

4 (22.2)

nsc

Past history of any psychotropic medication, n (%)

11 (40.7)

18 (36.0)

nsc

14 (43.8)

4 (22.2)

nsc

Treatments of the current episode, n (%)

4 (14.8)

5 (10.0)

nsc

5 (15.6)

0 (0.0)

nsc

Antidepressant treatment of the current episode, n (%)

3 (11.1)

3 (6.0)

nsc

3 (9.4)

0 (0.0)

nsc

Benzodiazepine treatment of the current episode, n (%)

1 (3.7)

1 (2.0)

nsc

1 (3.1)

0 (0.0)

nsc

HDRS, mean (SD)

23.0 (5.2)

23.1 (6.1)

nsa

23.2 (6.2)

22.9 (6.0)

nsb

SDS, mean (SD)

55.9 (5.4)

57.9 (7.8)

nsa

57.9 (7.4)

57.9 (7.1)

nsb

AIS, mean (SD)

11.2 (3.7)

12.9 (4.4)

nsa

12.8 (4.3)

13.1 (4.7)

nsb

CGI-S, median [quartiles]

4.0 [4.0–5.0]

4.0 [4.0–5.0]

nsa

4.5 [4.0–5.0]

4.0 [4.0–5.0]

nsb

  1. SSRI selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, SD standard variation, HDRS 17-item Hamilton depression rating scale, SDS Zung self-rating depression scale, AIS Athens insomnia scale, CGI-S clinical global impressions-severity
  2. aUnpaired t test or Mann–Whitney U test
  3. bOne-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) or Kruskal–Wallis test
  4. cChi-square test or Fisher exact test
  5. dMaximum number of recurrent episodes is two