A COMPARISON OF PAROXETINE, CLOMIPRAMINE AND PLACEBO IN THE TREATMENTOF PANIC DISORDER

The aim of this 12-week, double-blind, parallel group, placebo-control led study was to compare paroxetine with clomipramine in 367 patients with DSM-III-R defined panic disorder. Efficacy assessments included t he daily panic attack diary, the Clinical Global Impression Scale, the Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale, the Marks Sheehan Phobia Scale and the Sheehan Disability Scale. Paroxetine produced significant improvement s compared with placebo in various measurements of panic attack freque ncy, and was as effective as clomipramine. However, paroxetine appeare d to have a more rapid onset of action than clomipramine in reducing t he number of panic attacks to zero. There was an equivalent improvemen t with both paroxetine and clomipramine in the supportive efficacy var iables which assessed associated aspects of therapeutic improvement. S ignificantly more adverse effects were reported in the clomipramine gr oup compared with the paroxetine group, while there was no difference between the paroxetine and placebo groups.