A COMPARISON OF BENTAZEPAM VERSUS KETAZOLAM IN ANXIETY DISORDERS DIAGNOSED ACCORDING TO DSM-III-R

Bentazepam (BTZ), 75 mg/day, and ketazolam (KZ), 30 mg/day, were compa red in a parallel, randomized, non-blind study conducted with 40 outpa tients diagnosed with anxiety disorders according to the Diagnostic an d Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, revised third edition. After a 1-week washout period to anxiolytic drugs, patients were assigned t o either BTZ (n = 20) or KZ (n = 20) treatment. Both the Hamilton Anxi ety Rating Scale (HARS) and State subscale from the State-Trait Anxiet y Inventory of Spielberger (STAI-S) were administered at baseline and at weeks 1, 3, and 6 of treatment. The Digit-Symbol Substitution Test (DSST) and Digit Span (DS) were performed at every evaluation. Treatme nt with both BTZ and KZ reduced anxiety as measured by decreases in HA RS and STAI-S scores during the study. Small differences in favor of B TZ were reported at week 3 of treatment. Neither drug had a major infl uence on results from the cognitive tests (DSST and DS).