TREATMENT OF GENERALIZED ANXIETY DISORDER - COMPARISON OF A NEW BETA-BLOCKING DRUG (CGP361A), LOW-DOSE NEUROLEPTIC (FLUPENTIXOL), AND PLACEBO

In an attempt to evaluate an alternative drug treatment to benzodiazepines in generalized anxiety disorders, a placebo controlled trial was carried out with a new beta-adrenergic blocker (CPG 361 A). A low-dosage neuroleptic (flupenthixol) was included as a reference drug. Depending on the clinical assessment scales the placebo treatment resulted in moderate to excellent improvement in 36 % to 56 % of the patients after four weeks of treatment. The active drugs generally had a higher improvement range (from 31 % to 80 %). The global improvement scale was found to be better than the other scales in discriminating between placebo (50 % improvement) and the active drugs (CGP 361 A brought about 78 % improvement and flupenthixol brought about 80 % improvement). However, only for flupenthixol was the difference of statistical significance.