The controlled study on venlafaxine and fluoxetine in depression

Objective To assess the efficacy and safety of venlafaxine in the treatment of depression. Methods 120 patients with depression were randomly administered with venfalaxine (n=60, 57 completed) or fluoxetine (n=60, 58 completed) for 6 weeks. The initial doses of venlafazxine versus fluoxetine were 50mg versus 20 mg daily, and increased gradually to 75~225mg versus 40mg daily in day 7~10. The efficacy was evaluated with HAMD and CGI-SI. The safety profiles were assessed with TESS. Results The overall efficacy of two treatment groups showed no significant difference (84.2% versus 82.8%,P0.05). The median response for venfalaxine treatment was on the (6.7±3.3) day and for fluoxetine on the (10.2±4.7) day (P0.05). Patients treated with venfalaxine experienced the improvement of depression symptoms in the scores of HAMD and CGI-SI as well as TESS at the end of the study compared to patients treated with fluoxetine, which was not significant (P0.05). Conclusions Venfalaxine is a new option for the patients with depression.