A comparative study of escitalopram and paroxetine in improving symptoms in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder

Objective To explore the efficacy of escitalopram and paroxetine in improving symptoms in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder(OCD).Methods A total of 165 patients with OCD were randomly divided into study group(83 cases) treated with escitalopram and control group(82 cases) treated with paroxetine for 8 weeks.The efficacy and side effects were assessed with Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale(Y-BOCS),Hamilton Rating Scale for Anxiety(HAMA) and Treatment Emergent Symptom Scale(TESS) at baseline and the 2nd,4th and 8th weekend of treatment.Results Compared with the baseline,total scores of Y-BOCS and HAMA in study group decreased significantly at the 2nd weekend(P0.05),while the significance appeared till the 4th weekend in control group.Scores of Y-BOCS and HAMA in study group were significantly lower than those in control group HH(P0.05) at the 2nd,4th and 8th weekend of treatment.At the end of treatment,the remission rate in study group was significantly higher than that in control group(P0.05).No severe side effect was found in both groups.Conclusion Both escitalopram and paroxetine are effective and safe in the treatment of OCD,while escitalopram takes effect faster than paroxetine.