Escitalopram in treatment of depression with comorbid anxiety:a randomized and controlled clinical trial

AIM To evaluate efficacy and safety of escitalopram in the treatment of depression with comorbid anxiety.METHODS In the 6-week,randomized,double-blind,and parallel controlled clinical trial,48 patients were randomly divided into escitalopram(10-20 mg·d-1)group and citalopram(20-40 mg·d-1)group,24 for each group.All the patients were assessed with HAMD17,HAMA,and CGI before treatment and after 1,2,4 and 6 weeks treatment.Safety measures included adverse reactions observation,laboratory examination and electrocardiogram.RESULTS The scores of HAMD17 and HAMA in both groups decreased significantly,with statistically difference between the baseline and other observation time points(P 0.01,P 0.05).From the end of week 2,scores of CGI-S in the two groups were decreased significantly(P 0.01).There were no significant differences between the two groups in the scores of HAMD17,HAMA,and CGI(P 0.05).The total effective rates of the escitalopram group and the citalopram group were 70% and 89% respectively,with no significant difference(P 0.05).The adverse reaction rates of the escitalopram group and the citalopram group were 12% and 42% respectively,with significant difference(P 0.05).CONCLUSION Escitalopram is an effective and safety antidepressant in the treatment of depression comorbid with anxiety.