Pharmacological augmentation for people with treatment-resistant depression.
Strawbridge R., Nikolova VL., Browning M., Rucker J., Cowen PJ., Cousins DA., Young AH., Cleare AJ.
Long-term pharmacological augmentation is central to care for treatment-resistant depression, yet until recently no adequately powered trials have examined it. With three such studies now published, we highlight the hope they offer for improving outcomes in this underserved population while highlighting caution in interpreting their collective findings without careful consideration of methodology and clinical context. We consider these issues and their implications for guiding more personalised treatment decisions aimed at sustained benefit in routine practice.