Two primary outcomes of efficacy and acceptability showed a possible advantage of benzodiazepines over placebo .
Low- quality evidence shows a possible superiority of benzodiazepine over placebo in the short-term treatment of panic disorders .
Due to these limitations , our results regarding the efficacy of benzodiazepines versus placebo provide only limited guidance for clinical practice .
BACKGROUND Panic disorder is characterised by recurrent unexpected panic attacks consisting of a wave of intense fear that reaches a peak within a few minutes .
Panic disorder is a common disorder , with an estimated lifetime prevalence of 1 % to 5 % in the general population and a 7 % to 10 % prevalence in primary care setting s. Its aetiology is not fully understood and is probably heterogeneous .
Panic disorder is treated with psychological and pharmacological interventions , often used in combination .
Although benzodiazepines are frequently used in the treatment of panic disorder , guidelines recommend antidepressants , mainly selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors ( SSRIs ) , as first-line treatment for panic disorder , particularly due to their lower incidence of dependence and withdrawal reaction when compared to benzodiazepines .
Despite these recommendations , benzodiazepines are widely used in the treatment of panic disorder , probably because of their rapid onset of action .
OBJECTIVES To assess the efficacy and acceptability of benzodiazepines versus placebo in the treatment of panic disorder with or without agoraphobia in adults .
Nonspecific factors and side effect complaints: FACTORS AFFECTING THE INCIDENCE OF DROWSINESS IN DRUG AND PLACEBO TREATED ANXIOUS AND DEPRESSED OUTPATIENTS
Discriminant function analyses were applied to data obtained from anxious psychiatric out patients treated with either chlordiazepoxide ( n = 353 ) or placebo ( n = 259 ) and depressed out patients treated with either amitriptyline ( n = 310 ) or placebo ( n = 328 ) , who had participated in controlled drug trials of 4 weeks ’ duration , in an attempt to identify factors associated with complaints of drowsiness made by these patients . Although the magnitude of the relationships between individual predictors and drowsiness was small , several factors emerged which had consistent impact across treatment groups . Predictors of complaints of drowsiness attributed to active drugs arose primarily from demographic attributes probably reflective of life style , and from illness and treatment history . In contrast , predictors of drowsiness attributed to placebo were almost exclusively confined to indices of the severity of several aspects of presenting symptomatology . In particular , more frequent complaints of drug‐induced drowsiness were found among better educated individuals with an illness of long duration . Complaints of placebeinduced drowsiness were more common among patients with more severe emotional ( phobic‐obsessive ) symptomatology and more frequent headaches and among those individuals in whom hypochondriasis was less severe
Two primary outcomes of efficacy and acceptability showed a possible advantage of benzodiazepines over placebo .
Low- quality evidence shows a possible superiority of benzodiazepine over placebo in the short-term treatment of panic disorders .
Due to these limitations , our results regarding the efficacy of benzodiazepines versus placebo provide only limited guidance for clinical practice .
BACKGROUND Panic disorder is characterised by recurrent unexpected panic attacks consisting of a wave of intense fear that reaches a peak within a few minutes .
Panic disorder is a common disorder , with an estimated lifetime prevalence of 1 % to 5 % in the general population and a 7 % to 10 % prevalence in primary care setting s. Its aetiology is not fully understood and is probably heterogeneous .
Panic disorder is treated with psychological and pharmacological interventions , often used in combination .
Although benzodiazepines are frequently used in the treatment of panic disorder , guidelines recommend antidepressants , mainly selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors ( SSRIs ) , as first-line treatment for panic disorder , particularly due to their lower incidence of dependence and withdrawal reaction when compared to benzodiazepines .
Despite these recommendations , benzodiazepines are widely used in the treatment of panic disorder , probably because of their rapid onset of action .
OBJECTIVES To assess the efficacy and acceptability of benzodiazepines versus placebo in the treatment of panic disorder with or without agoraphobia in adults .