A placebo-controlled trial of paroxetine in the treatment of major depression.

Paroxetine is a phenylpiperidine compound that selectively inhibits neuronal serotonin uptake in man. In this study, the efficacy of paroxetine was compared with that of placebo in the treatment of 66 outpatients with the diagnosis of moderate-to-severe major depression. The research was a 6-week, prospective, double-blind design after a 1-week placebo baseline phase. Paroxetine was associated with a consistent pattern of greater improvement on the primary efficacy scales, but the differences were not statistically significant. Paroxetine did produce significantly greater improvement than placebo for patients whose illness had lasted more than 1 year, and there was a significant reduction in suicidal ideation. Significantly fewer dropouts were due to lack of efficacy in those patients treated with paroxetine compared with those in the placebo group. Paroxetine was well tolerated. There was no difference between paroxetine and placebo in the rate of adverse effects or in the number of patients who dropped out because of adverse effects.

RCT Entities:   Population Interventions Outcomes