Methylphenidate augmentation of escitalopram to enhance adherence to antidepressant treatment: a pilot randomized controlled trial.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Adherence to treatment, i.e. the extent to which a patient's therapeutic engagement coincides with the prescribed treatment, is among the most important problems in mental health care. The current study investigated the influence of pairing an acute positive reinforcing dopaminergic/noradrenergic effect (methylphenidate, MPH) with a standard antidepressant on the rates of adherence to medication treatment. The primary objective of this study was to determine whether MPH + escitalopram resulted in higher rates of medication adherence relative to placebo + escitalopram.

Methods

Twenty participants with moderate to severe depression were 1-1 randomized to either (1) 5 mg MPH + 10 mg escitalopram or (2) placebo + 10 mg escitalopram with the possibility for a dose incr

SUBMITTER: Paulus MP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8603485 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature