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 .
Patient Stage of Change predicts outcome in a panic disorder medication trial.
OBJECTIVE The authors test the hypothesis that patient readiness to change predicts outcome in a placebo-controlled medication trial . METHOD Out- patients with panic disorder and agoraphobia completed the Stages of Change ( SOC ) question naire , a measure of readiness to change , before being r and omly assigned either sustained release ( SR ) adinazolam or placebo in a 4 week double-blind trial . RESULTS In the " intent to treat " analysis , for the 202 subjects who made at least one visit after baseline , adinazolam SR was significantly more effective than placebo on most major outcome measures . Of the 126 subjects who completed the SOC question naire , regression analyses showed significant correlations between SOC scores and all 5 outcome measures . In a second analysis , cluster membership based on SOC scores was predictive of outcome on 3 of 5 measures . In each statistical analysis , subjects who were not predisposed to change as measured by the SOC were significantly less likely to change . CONCLUSIONS Patient readiness to change was strongly correlated with outcome in a placebo-controlled panic disorder trial with an effective medication . In this study , the SOC category , Precontemplation ( i.e. , those subjects who reported the belief that they had no problem ) were less likely to change compared to those who believed that they had a problem
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 .