Alprazolam SR in the treatment of generalized anxiety: a multicentre controlled study with bromazepam

✍ Scribed by M. Luisa Figueira

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1999
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 103 KB
• Volume: 14
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0885-6222
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1099-1077(199904)14:3<171::aid-hup80>3.0.co;2-7

✦ Synopsis

A multicentre, double-blind, randomized trial compared the ecacy of a sustained-release formulation of alprazolam with bromazepam in the treatment of generalized anxiety. One hundred and twenty-one outpatients were randomly assigned to three weeks of active treatment with alprazolam SR (2 mg once daily) or bromazepam (3 mg three times daily), following a period of 3±7 days without medication. After treatment, doses were reduced by 50 per cent during a 1-week dosage-tapering period; patients were then followed for one additional week. There was no signi®cant dierence in the anxiolytic eects of alprazolam SR and bromazepam. The results in the two treatment groups were very similar and showed a rapid and statistically signi®cant reduction in ecacy measures, including the total score on the Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale and the Clinical Global Impression improvement and severity of illness scores. The mean changes from baseline scores were compared between treatments at each evaluation point and no statistically signi®cant dierences were observed. At week 3, more than 70 per cent of patients in the alprazolam SR and bromazepam groups were classi®ed as responders. In conclusion, alprazolam SR, in a single daily dose, has a rapid onset of action and is eective in the treatment of generalized anxiety disorder. Its anxiolytic activity is similar to that of bromazepam taken in several daily doses and it has the advantage of enhancing patient compliance and reducing the potential for breakthrough anxiety.