The comparison of efficacy of Escitalopram and Bupropion in treatment of depression symptoms in patients with heart failure: randomized clinical trial

Objective: This study aims to compare the effects of two medicines, Escitalopram and Bupropion, on HF patients who have depression symptoms. Methods: This double-blind randomized clinical trial study was conducted on HF patients with depression symptoms at the Heart Failure Clinics affiliated with Babol University of Medical Sciences. In this study, 80 participants were examined for depression based on the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS). They were randomly allocated into two groups of 40 participants treated with Bupropion 75 mg and Escitalopram 5 mg. Following the intervention, the individuals were assessed in terms of their depression score at 4, 8, and 12-week intervals. Finally, the data were analyzed using SPSS version 22.0. Results: In the examination of Beck and Hamilton scores in the two research groups during different follow-ups, a significant decrease was found over time ( P <0.001 for both medicines). While the effectiveness of the two medicines was the same at different times ( P >0.05 in all cases). Comparing the side effects between the two intervention groups, the orgasm disorder ( P =0.018) and sexual dysfunction ( P <0.001) were reported significantly more in the Escitalopram group than in the Bupropion group. Conclusions: The findings of this study showed that Escitalopram has the same efficacy as Bupropion in the treatment of depression symptoms in HF patients.