Predictors of Response to Amitriptyline and Placebo in Three Outpatient Treatment Settings

The present report examines the predictors and modifiers of response to amitriptyline in an effort to: identify variables whose effects on drug response are general enough to apply to a range of patient types and treatment settings, isolate predictors, and evaluate the extent to which contrasting conditions across treatment settings may lead to contrasting predictors of treatment effects. The sample comprised moderately depressed neurotic outpatients from three treatment settings: 84 clinic patients from an outpatient clinic in a city hospital, 95 patients from the private practice of general practitioners, and 78 patients from the private practice of a group of psychiatrists. Potential predictors from which regressors in a step search multiple regression procedure could be selected were: patient demographic and attitudinal characteristics, assessments of presenting illness and its history, and evaluations of aspects of the patient-therapist interaction.