Psychometric Assessment of the Therapeutic Efficiency of Antidepressant Agents

A clinical trial of four weeks duration was conducted involving a tota oj thirty depressed patients, of both sexes, aged between twenty and thirty-four years. The total number of patients was divided into three groups of ten patients each. One group received amitriptyline, the second group was administered noxiptyline and the third group was given dibenzepine. All drugs were administered orally. Patients were submitted to psychometric testing before and after drug administration. The tests used included the 'Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression', the 'Hildreth Feeling Scale' and the 'D Scale' and the 'Trail Making Test' for the evaluation of psychomotor retardation. It was concluded that the Hamilton Rating Scale was the most relativeiy sensitive test idilized in assessing the depressive state and its improvement. Amitriptyline was fototd to be mostly anxiolytic: noxiptyline controlled both depression and anxiety to approximately the same extent; and dibenze­ pine was found to be a mood-elevating drtig with an energizing action.