Our review confirms the usefulness of long-term pharmacological treatments for PD and GAD and suggests that they can provide further improvement over that obtained during short-term therapy .
Paroxetine , escitalopram , and clonazepam can be effective for long-term treatment of PD .
Pregabalin and quetiapine can be effective for long-term treatment of GAD , while preliminary suggestions emerged for agomelatine and vortioxetine .
We did not find any evidence for determining the optimal length and /or dosage of medications to minimize the relapse risk .
Many aspects of long-term pharmacological treatments for  anxiety disorders ( AnxDs ) are still debated .
We undertook an up date d systematic review of long-term pharmacological studies on panic disorder ( PD ) , generalized anxiety disorder ( GAD ) , and social anxiety disorder ( SAD ) .
Broadening of Generalized Anxiety Disorders Definition Does not Affect the Response to Psychiatric Care: Findings from the Observational ADAN Study
Objective : To eluci date the consequences of broadening DSM-IV criteria for generalized anxiety disorder ( GAD ) , we examined prospect ively the evolution of GAD symptoms in two groups of patients ; one group diagnosed according to DSM-IV criteria and the other , according to broader criteria . Method : Multicentre , prospect i ve and observational study conducted on outpatient psychiatric clinics . Patients were selected from October 2007 to January 2009 and diagnosed with GAD according to DSM-IV criteria ( DSM-IV group ) or broader criteria . Broader criteria were considered 1-month of excessive or non-excessive worry and only 2 of the associated symptoms listed on DSM-IV for GAD diagnosis . Socio-demographic data , medical history and functional outcome measures were collected three times during a 6-month period . Results : 3,549 patients were systematic ally recruited ; 1,815 patients in DSM-IV group ( DG ) and 1,264 in broad group ( BG ) ; 453 patients did not fulfil inclusion criteria and were excluded . Most patients ( 87.9 % in DG , 82.0 % in BG ) were currently following pharmacological therapies ( mainly benzodiazepines ) to manage their anxiety symptoms . The changes observed during the study were : 49.0 % and 58.0 % , respectively of patients without anxiety symptoms as per HAM-A scale at the 6 month visit ( p=0.261 ) and 59.7 % and 67.7 % , respectively ( p=0.103 ) of responder rates ( > 50 % reduction of baseline scoring ) . Conclusion : Broadening of GAD criteria does not seem to affect psychiatric care results in subjects with GAD , is able to identify the core symptoms of the disease according to the DSM-IV criteria and could lead to an earlier diagnosis
Our review confirms the usefulness of long-term pharmacological treatments for PD and GAD and suggests that they can provide further improvement over that obtained during short-term therapy .
Paroxetine , escitalopram , and clonazepam can be effective for long-term treatment of PD .
Pregabalin and quetiapine can be effective for long-term treatment of GAD , while preliminary suggestions emerged for agomelatine and vortioxetine .
We did not find any evidence for determining the optimal length and /or dosage of medications to minimize the relapse risk .
Many aspects of long-term pharmacological treatments for  anxiety disorders ( AnxDs ) are still debated .
We undertook an up date d systematic review of long-term pharmacological studies on panic disorder ( PD ) , generalized anxiety disorder ( GAD ) , and social anxiety disorder ( SAD ) .