A double-blind comparative study of alprazolam and dothiepin hydrochloride in the treatment of anxiety associated with depression

Abstract

One hundred patients with mixed symptoms of anxiety and depression were enrolled into a prospective, multi-centre, randomized, double-blind study comparing the response to, and the side-effects of, alprazolam and dothiepin hydrochloride over 4 weeks of treatment. Mean daily doses were 2.33 mg alprazolam and 115 mg dothiepin. Data on 96 patients were evaluated for tolerance, and data for 85 patients were analyzed for therapeutic response. In each case, the groups were similar in numbers, mean ages and sex ratios. Both groups experienced satisfactory responses to therapy, with highly statistically significant changes (p less than 0.001) in the means of all efficacy measures within each group. No statistical difference was demonstrated in favour of either treatment group. Both dothiepin and alprazolam exhibited a similar profile of mild minor side-effects, but more patients suffered moderate to severe reactions to dothiepin, leading to a greater drop-out rate in the dothiepin-treated group. It is concluded that, as both treatments produced equally satisfactory responses in this study, alprazolam should be considered for the treatment of anxiety associated with depression in patients for whom tricyclic antidepressant drugs are either contra-indicated or poorly tolerated.