A clinical control study of venlafaxine and fluoxetine in the treatment of senile depression

ObjectiveTo compare clinical efficacy and side effects between venlafaxine and fluoxetine in the treatment of senile depression. MethodsSixty patients who met CCMD-2-R for senile depression were randomly assigned into 2 groups. One group was treated with venlafaxine and the other with fluoxetine for six weeks. Hamilton Rating Scale(HAMD), Clinical Global Impression Scale(CGI) and Treatment Emergent Symptom Scale(TESS)were adopted to evaluate the clinical efficacy and side effects before and after 1, 2, 4 and 6 weeks of the treatment. ResultsVenlafaxine showed more rapid effects than fluoxetine after 1 and 2 weeks of the treatment,the scores of HAMD were lower than that of fluoxetine,which reduced significantly (P0.05).The total effective rates for venlafaxine and fluoxetine were 80.0% and 66.7% respectivelyafter 6 weeks of the treatment,there were no significantly differences between the two groups(~(2)=1.36,P0.05). The side effects of two groups were slight and have no differences.ConclusionVenlafaxine is a safe and effective antidepressant. It is suggested that venlafaxine could be used as a first-line antidepressant in the treatment of senile depression.