Mirtazapine treatment of social phobia in women: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study
Social phobia is an anxiety disorder characterized by extreme fear and phobic avoidance of social and performance situations and by a relatively poor health-related quality of life. The goal of this study was to compare the efficacy of mirtazapine versus placebo in the treatment of patients with soc...
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Published in | Journal of clinical psychopharmacology Vol. 25; no. 6; p. 580 |
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Main Authors | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
United States
01.12.2005
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Subjects | |
Online Access | Get more information |
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Summary: | Social phobia is an anxiety disorder characterized by extreme fear and phobic avoidance of social and performance situations and by a relatively poor health-related quality of life. The goal of this study was to compare the efficacy of mirtazapine versus placebo in the treatment of patients with social phobia. In 2004, we conducted a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study of mirtazapine in 66 female subjects from the general population meeting the criteria for social phobia. The subjects were randomly assigned in a 1:1 manner to mirtazapine (n = 33) or placebo (n = 33). The treatment lasted 10 weeks. Seven patients dropped out. Primary outcome measures were self-reported changes on the Social Phobia Inventory, Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale, and Health Survey (SF-36). In comparison with the placebo group and according to the intent-to-treat principle, significant differences on the Social Phobia Inventory and Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale scales (all P < 0.001), as well as on most (5 from 8) scales of SF-36 (all P < 0.001), were observed in the mirtazapine-treated subjects. All patients tolerated mirtazapine relatively well. Mirtazapine appears to be an effective agent in the treatment of social phobia in women and in the improvement of their health-related quality of life. |
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ISSN: | 0271-0749 |
DOI: | 10.1097/01.jcp.0000186871.04984.8d |