A comparative study of mirtazapine and paroxetine for depressive patients

Objective:To compare efficacy and safety of mirtazapine and paroxetine in the treatment of major depressive disorder.Methods:Sixty-four patients who met the criteria of CCMD-2-R for depressive disorder were randomly divided into subgroups receiving treatment of mirtazapine and paroxetine respectively for six weeks. The efficacy was assessed by Hamilton depression rating scale (HAMD) and the safety was assessed by treatment emergent symptom scale (TESS). Results:After 6 weeks treatment, the effective rate of the mirtazapine group and the paroxetine group were 84% and 78%, respectively. The results have no remarkable differences in two groups. The effective rate of mirtazaoine group was higher than that of paroxetine group both after 1 week treatment and after 2 weeks treatment. After 6 weeks treatment the scores of HAMD in two groups were statistical difference before and after treatment. There was no significant difference between two groups. Both the decreased scores of HAMD and the decreased sub-scores of HAMD in anxiety somatization and sleep disturbance in mirtazaoine group were lower than that in paroxetine group after 1 week treatment and after 2 weeks treatment. There was no significant difference between two groups. The main adverse reactions of mirtazapine group were dizziness, drowsiness, etc. Adverse reactions were no obvious difference between two groups. Conclusion:Mirtazapine is a safe and effective, and rapidly responded new antidepressant. Moreover, this drug is effective in the treatment of sleep disorder and anxiety.