Randomised Placebo-controlled Duloxetine-referenced Efficacy and Safety Study of 2.5, 5 and 10 mg of Vortioxetine (Lu AA21004) in Acute Treatment of Major Depressive Disorder

The Montgomery Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) is a depression rating scale consisting of 10 items, each rated 0 (no symptom) to 6 (severe symptom). The 10 items represent the core symptoms of depressive illness. The rating should be based on a clinical interview with the patient, moving from broadly phrased questions about symptoms to more detailed ones, which allow a precise rating of severity, covering the last 7 days. Total score from 0 to 60. The higher the score, the more severe.

The Hamilton Depression Scale - 24 Items (HAM-D-24) measures depression severity. Items are rated on a scale from 0 (symptoms not present) to a maximum of 2 to 4 (symptom extremely severe) for a total score range of 0 to 76. The higher the score, the more severe.

The Clinical Global Impression - Global Improvement (CGI-I) is a 7-point scale rated from 1 (very much improved) to 7 (very much worse). The investigator rated the patient's overall improvement relative to baseline, whether or not, in the opinion of the investigator, this was entirely due to the drug treatment.

The Sheehan Disability Scale (SDS) comprises self-rated items designed to measure impairment. The patient rates the extent to which his or her (1) work, (2) social life or leisure activities and (3) home life or family responsibilities are impaired on a 10-point visual analogue scales, on which 0 = normal functioning and 10 = severe functional impairment. The three items may be summed into a single dimensional measure of global functional impairment that ranges from 0 (unimpaired) to 30 (highly impaired). The higher the score, the more severe.

The Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAM-A) consists of 14 items that assess anxious mood, tension, fear, insomnia, intellectual (cognitive) symptoms, depressed mood, behaviour at interview, somatic (sensory), cardiovascular, respiratory, gastrointestinal, genitourinary, autonomic, and somatic (muscular) symptoms. Each symptom is rated from 0 (absent) to 4 (maximum severity). Total score from 0 to 56. The higher the score, the more severe.

The Clinical Global Impression - Severity of Illness (CGI-S) is a 7-point scale rated from 1 (normal, not at all ill) to 7 (among the most extremely ill patients). The investigator should use his/her total clinical experience with this patient population to judge how mentally ill the patient is at the time of rating.

The Arizona Sexual Experience Scale (ASEX) is a 5-item, patient self-rated scale that evaluates a patient's recent sexual experience. Patients are asked to assess their own experience over the last week (for example, "How strong is your sex drive?", "Are your orgasms satisfying?") and respond on a 6-point scale for each item. The ASEX is used to identify individuals with sexual dysfunction. Possible total score ranges from 5 to 30, with the higher score indicating more patient sexual dysfunction. A negative change indicates a lower sexual dysfunction.