Cumulative mean change procedure: application to a comparative trial of venlafaxine, imipramine, and placebo in the treatment of major depression

Abstract

1. A simple summary measure--namely, cumulative mean change (CMC)--is proposed for analyzing incomplete repeated measures in clinical settings. 2. A simple test statistic that uses the correlation between subject responses was derived and applied to a study comparing an investigational antidepressant, venlafaxine, with imipramine and placebo. 3. The global fashion in which CMC captured all data confirmed the efficacy advantage of venlafaxine over the two control agents.