Efficacy and safety of trazodone versus clorazepate in the treatment of HIV-positive subjects with adjustment disorders: a pilot study

The efficacy of trazodone and clorazepate to relieve anxiety and depressive symptoms in 21 HIV-positive subjects with adjustment disorders was determi ned in a 28-day single-centre, randomized, double-blind study, Subjects wer e evaluated using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, the Revised Sy mptom Checklist, the European Organization for Research and the Treatment o f Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire, and a binary criterion based on the Clinical Global Impression, The incidence of successful treatment was 80% for trazodone compared with 64% for clorazepate; the sample number was too small to establish a significant difference, Bayesian analysis revealed the probability of making a wrong decision in prescribing trazodone rather tha n clorazepate reduced from 35% to 18% in this small sample, Clinical evalua tions using the different scales suggest some benefit from trazodone, altho ugh this was not significant, Safety of both treatments was similar, Trazod one is devoid of the risk of abuse and dependence, and may be a valuable al ternative to benzodiazepines for the treatment of HIV-related adjustment di sorders.