Treatment of geriatric depression with escitalopram and fluoxefine

Objective To investigate the efficacy and side effect of escitalopram and fluoxetine in treatment of geriatric depression.Methods 120 patients with depression were randomly divided into escitalopram group and fluoxetine group treated with escitalopram and fluoxetine for 6 weeks,respectively.The Hamilton Depression Scale(HAMD)and clinical global impression scale(CGI)were used to assess the therapeutic effect and side effect,respectively.Results The effective rate of escitalopram group and fluoxetine group were 87.3% and 82.5%,respectively.The incidence of side effect of escitalopram group and fluoxetine group were 30.9% and 30.6%,respectively.There was no significant difference between two groups in improvement rate and side effect(P0.05).Conclusion Eseitalopram is as effective as Fluoxetine for the treatment of geriatric depression,and has fewer side effect and fast onset than Fluoxetine.