A comparative study of citalopram and fluoxetine in the treatment of depression

Objective To compare efficacy and safety of citalopram and fluoxetine in the treatment of depression.Methods Sixty patients who met the criteria of CCMD-3 for depressive disorder were randomly divided into two groups receiving treatment of citalopram or fluoxetine respectively for eight weeks.The efficacy was measured with Hamilton Depression Scale(HAMD).The side effects were assessed by Treatment Emergent Symptoms Scale (TESS).The scales were evaluated in 1,2,4,6,8.weeks after treatment.Results After treatment,the study group(citalopram)was superior to the comparison group(fluoxetine).The recovery,maked improvement,effective,non-responsive cases of the two groups were 19,5,4,2and 17,4,5,4respectively.The significant improvement rates of the citalopram group and the fluoxetint group were 93.3% and 86.7%,but there was no significant difference between the two groups( P 0.05).Citalopram showed more effective in the treatment of depression with anxiety,insomnia,agited excitement,and fewer side effects than fluoxetine.During the period of treatment,both of the two groups,did not appear mania.Conclusion Both citalopram and fluoxetine are effective and well tolerate antidepressants with few side effects.And the former is superior to the later in morderate and major depression.