A clinical control study of mirtazapine vs.paroxetine in treatment of senile depression

AIM To compare the efficacy and safety of mirtazapine and paroxetine in the treatment of senile depression.METHODS Seventy senile inpatients with depression were randomly divided into miratazapine group(n=35) and paroxetine group(n=35).In the 6-week treatment,the dose of miratazapine was 15 mg,qn,and was added to 30 mg·d-1 in 1 week,and the dose of paroxetine was 20 mg·d-1.The Hamilton depression scale(HAMD) and clinical global impressions(CGI) were used to assess the therapeutic efficacy,and the rating scale for side effects(SERS) was used to evaluate the adverse reactions before and 2,4,and 6 weeks after the treatment.RESULTS The scores of HAMD and severty of illness(SI) before treatment had no significantly difference between the two groups(P 0.05),and they decreased significantly(P 0.05 or P 0.01) compared with pre-treatment in both groups at the end of wk 2,4,and 6.The scores of HAMD and CGI had significantly difference(P 0.01) between the two groups at the end of wk 2;at the end of wk 4 and 6,the scores of HAMD,SI,and global improvement(GI) had no significant difference between the two groups(P 0.05),but the scores of efficacy index(EI) were significantly different(P 0.05).The scores of SERS had significant difference(P 0.05) between the two groups during the treatment.The patients with body weariness and sexual dysfunction in the paroxetine group were more than those in the miratazapine group(P 0.05,P 0.01),and the patients with lethargy were more in the miratazapine group(P 0.05) .CONCLUSION Both miratazapine and paroxetine have good efficacy for senile depression,but miratazapine takes effect more quickly,and with mild adverse reactions.