A comparison of the safety and efficacy of alprazolam versus other agents in the treatment of anxiety, panic, and depression: a review of the literature.

A review of the worldwide published literature was conducted to assess the efficacy and safety of alprazolam for the treatment of anxiety disorders, panic disorder, and depression in comparison with those of other active drugs (including other benzodiazepines and antidepressant medications). In all, a total of 8878 patients participated in the 84 active-drug-controlled studies that were reviewed: 3574 were treated with alprazolam, 3666 were treated with another active drug, and 1638 were treated with placebo. Two general findings emerged: (1) Alprazolam demonstrates efficacy for the treatment of anxiety disorders, panic disorder, and depression in the large majority of studies; for these illnesses, it appeared equal in efficacy to the active agents with which it was compared. (2) Medical events, such as depression, suicidality, hostility/aggression, mania/psychosis, abuse, withdrawal reactions, and seizures, were reported infrequently or not at all for alprazolam and the comparator drugs; there were no marked differences between drug classes in the frequencies of these events.