Clinical Evaluation of Citalopram and Fluoxetine in the Treatment of Depressive Patients

[Objective] To explore the efficiency and safety of Citalopram in the treatment of depressive patients. [Methods] Sixty three patients with depression were randomly divided into two groups, which received orally Citalopram 20mg or Fluoxetine 20mg once a day, respectively. HAMD was used to evaluate the treatment effects. The safety was monitored by TESS, physical and laboratory examinations. [Results] After six weeks of treatment, the effective rates were 85.24% and 82.35%,and the curative rates were 64.71% and 56.18%, respectively, in group Citalopram and group Fluoxetine. There were no significant differences in the effective and curative rate between two groups. And the HAMD scores were 9.65±7.24 and 9.79±5.62 decreased from 31.42±8.54 and 32.47±6.69, respectively, in group Citalopram and group Fluoxetine. There were also no significant differences between two groups. The main side effects of Citalopram were vomiting, headache, dry mouth and insomnia. The main side effects of Fluoxetine were vomiting, weight gain and headaches. [Conclusion]Citalopram is a safe and effective new drug for treatment of depression.