A comparison of paroxetine, clomipramine and placebo in the treatment of panic disorder

Abstract

The aim of this 12-week, double-blind, parallel group, placebo-controlled study was to compare paroxetine with clomipramine in 367 patients with DSM-III-R defined panic disorder. Efficacy assessments included the 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 improvements compared with placebo in various measurements of panic attack frequency, and was as effective as clomipramine. However, paroxetine appeared to have a more rapid onset of action than clomipramine in reducing the number of panic attacks to zero. There was an equivalent improvement with both paroxetine and clomipramine in the supportive efficacy variables which assessed associated aspects of therapeutic improvement. Significantly more adverse effects were reported in the clomipramine group compared with the paroxetine group, while there was no difference between the paroxetine and placebo groups.