Antidepressant drugs: side effects and compliance.

Despite controversy about the significance of compliance, the difficulty of studying the issue, and the poor quality of research in this area, there is a consensus from the literature and patient self-reports that side effects reduce compliance. About a fifth of depressed patients refuse drugs, and half of those in treatment drop out because of specific side effects and/or general attitudes toward treatment. Strategies to decrease side effects and improve compliance include plasma monitoring, once-a-day regimens, educational techniques, and basing the choice of tricyclic compounds or second generation drugs on individual patient needs.