Comparison of efficacy and safety between escitalopram and sertraline in the treatment of senile depression

Objective:To explore the efficacy and safety of escitalopram in the treatment of senile depression.Method:Sixty-one patients with senile depression were randomly divided into escitalopram group and sertraline group treated for six weeks.The curative effects and adverse reactions were assessed with the Hamilton depression scale(HAMD),clinical general impression(CGI) and treatment emergent symptom scale(TESS) respectively.Results:There were significantly improvement in scores of all scales compared with pre-treatment after 6 weeks treatment in two group(P0.01),meanwhile,the significant improvement were found in the escitalopram group than in the sertraline group at the end of first week treatment(P0.05),which suggest that the research group took effects faster.Effective rate of escitalopram group was 93.5% and of sertraline group was 90%.The curative effects of two groups were equivalente(P0.05).The adverse reactions of both groups were mild and didn't need special treatment.Conclusion:Escitalopram has an marked curative effect,higher safety and better tolerance in the treatment of senile depression.