A Swiss, open, mdticentre clinical study was conducted in collaboration with 176 general practitioners and internists to evaluate the efficacy and tolerability of moclobemide, an antidepressant belonging to a class of novel reversible MAO-A inhibitors called RIMAs. Six hundred and fifty-four outpatients satisfying the DSM-111 criteria of major depression were recruited and treated for at least four weeks. Efficacy was assessed with the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS) and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression (HAD) self-rating scale. Subjects were grouped according to depression subtype, history, age and severity of depression and were evaluated individually.
The global efficacy was assessed by the HDRS and Clinical Global Impression (CGI). The HDRS-score was reduced significantly after four weeks of treatment (p < 0.001). Moclobemide was effective in depression associated with anxiety or psychomotor retardation, in neurotic and agitated depression, in recurrent and chronic depression as well as initial depressive episodes, and in both young and old patients. According to the patients' self-ratings (HAD), moclobemide provided rapid relief of depressive and anxiety symptoms. The drug was well tolerated, as evidenced by the low incidence of side-effects.