Tropical Journal of Pharmaceutical Research

Original Research Article | OPEN ACCESS

Impact of citalopram combined with mindfulness-based stress reduction on symptoms, cognitive functions and self-confidence in patients with depression

Zhenyu Chen¹, Langyun Yan², Xiaoyu Nong³, Fuguang Chen¹, Fengkun Gan⁴, Peizhi Tang⁵, Jinmei Qin⁶, Yingmin Huang⁷ , Li Huang⁸

¹College of Teacher Education, Xichang University, Xichang, China; ²Wuzhou No. 3 Middle School, Wuzhou; ³Basic Teaching Department, College of Guangxi Industrial and Commercial Technician, Wuzhou, China.; ⁴Department of Pediatrics, Yulin Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Yulin; ⁵College of Education Science, Guangxi Science & Technology Normal University, Nanning; ⁶Psychological Consultation Center, Guangxi Transport Vocational and Technical College, Nanning; ⁷Department of Clinical Psychology, Yulin Fourth People's Hospital, Yulin; ⁸Psychological Consultation Center, Guangxi Technical School of News Publication, Nanning, China.

For correspondence:- Yingmin Huang Email: 823213599@qq.com Tel:+8615177615370

Accepted: 25 September 2021 Published: 31 October 2021

Citation: Chen Z, Yan L, Nong X, Chen F, Gan F, Tang P, et al. Impact of citalopram combined with mindfulness-based stress reduction on symptoms, cognitive functions and self-confidence in patients with depression. Trop J Pharm Res 2021; 20(10):2135-2142 doi: 10.4314/tjpr.v20i10.17

© 2021 The authors.
This is an Open Access article that uses a funding model which does not charge readers or their institutions for access and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0) and the Budapest Open Access Initiative (http://www.budapestopenaccessinitiative.org/read), which permit unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited..

Abstract

Purpose: To investigate the impact of the combination of citalopram and mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) on the symptoms, cognitive functions and self-confidence of patients with depression.

Methods: A total of 98 patients with depression were selected as study subjects and divided into combination therapy group (CT, n = 51) and conventional group (C, n = 47. The conventional group was treated with citalopram, while the combined group was treated with a combination of citalopram and MBSR. Depressive symptoms and self-confidence were evaluated using the 17-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAMD-17) and General Self-efficacy Scale (GSES). Cognitive functions were assessed by Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) and Trail Making Test (TMT). Changes in depressive symptoms, cognitive functions, self-confidence and clinical efficacies between the two groups were compared.

Results: At weeks 1, 4 and 8 after treatment, CT group had lower HAMD-17 scores but higher GSES scores when compared with the conventional group (p < 0.05). In addition, CT group was superior to the conventional group in efficacy and overall response rate (100.00 vs. 85.11 %, p < 0.05). Also, CT group showed a shorter time of perseverative and non-perseverative errors on WCST and a shorter time for TMT-A and TMT-B, compared with the conventional group (p < 0.05).

Conclusion: The combination therapy of citalopram and MBSR is effective in ameliorating depressive symptoms, and enhancing cognitive functions and self-confidence in patients with depression. These findings will increase the understanding of this combination therapy, and provide a clinical reference for the treatment of depression.

Keywords: Citalopram, Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction, Depression, Cognitive functions, Self-confidence