When alprazolam was compared with placebo for reduction in symptoms all estimates indicated a positive effect for alprazolam .
The RD of all-cause withdrawals did not differ between alprazolam and placebo .
Alprazolam appears to reduce depressive symptoms more effectively than placebo and as effectively as tricyclic antidepressants .
Whilst the rate of all-cause withdrawals did not appear to differ between alprazolam and placebo , and withdrawals were less frequent in the alprazolam group than in any of the conventional antidepressants combined group , these findings should be interpreted with caution , given the dependency properties of benzodiazepines
BACKGROUND The ' off-label ' effect of alprazolam on depression has not been systematic ally evaluated .
OBJECTIVES To determine the antidepressant effect , including tolerability and acceptability , of alprazolam as monotherapy for major depression , when compared to placebo and conventional antidepressants in out patients and patients in primary care .
A comparison of alprazolam with amitriptyline in the treatment of patients with neurotic or reactive depression
Summary 104 patients suffering from neurotic or reactive depressioDDn were treated with either alprazolam or amitriptyline in r and omised , double-blind fashion . Seventeen patients were either lost to follow-up3 or withdrawn before week 2 ( 13 due to side effects and 1 because she was feeling better ) . A further 7 patients did not comply with the protocol , giving a total of 24 patients whose data were not considered suitable for inclusion in the analysis of therapeutic assessment s . Evaluation of the 80 patients ( 40 in each group ) who completed at least 2 weeks of the 4-week study demonstrate that both treatments produced a statistically significant response rate . There was a more rapid effect in those patients who received amitriptyline , but there was no significant difference in response between the treatment groups after 4 weeks treatment . Analysis of safety and side effect data on 101 patients ( 50 treated with alprazolam and 51 with amitriptyline ) shows no statistically significant difference in the overall number of side effects experienced in each group , although 11 of those patients who received amitriptyline withdrew because of adverse reactions before completing the study compared to 6 in the alprazolam group . These results suggest that alprazolam may be a useful treatment for patients with neurotic or reactive depression not requiring hospitalisation
When alprazolam was compared with placebo for reduction in symptoms all estimates indicated a positive effect for alprazolam .
The RD of all-cause withdrawals did not differ between alprazolam and placebo .
Alprazolam appears to reduce depressive symptoms more effectively than placebo and as effectively as tricyclic antidepressants .
Whilst the rate of all-cause withdrawals did not appear to differ between alprazolam and placebo , and withdrawals were less frequent in the alprazolam group than in any of the conventional antidepressants combined group , these findings should be interpreted with caution , given the dependency properties of benzodiazepines
BACKGROUND The ' off-label ' effect of alprazolam on depression has not been systematic ally evaluated .
OBJECTIVES To determine the antidepressant effect , including tolerability and acceptability , of alprazolam as monotherapy for major depression , when compared to placebo and conventional antidepressants in out patients and patients in primary care .