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Sertraline Effective for Treating Social Anxiety Disorder: Presented at ADAA
By Alison Palkhivala
TORONTO, ON -- March 31, 2003 -- Sertraline (Zoloft) helps improve quality of life and functioning in patients with social anxiety disorder, especially among patients with severe impairment.
Michael Liebowitz, MD, from the Anxiety Disorders Clinic, New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, presented the findings here in a poster on March 29th at the 23rd Annual Conference of the Anxiety Disorders Association of America (ADAA).
Dr. Liebowitz and colleagues randomized 415 outpatients with social anxiety disorder to 12 weeks of therapy with 50 to 200 mg/day of sertraline or a placebo. They assessed patients' quality of life and level of functioning using the Quality of Life, Enjoyment, and Satisfaction scale (Q-LES-Q), the Sheehan disability inventory (SDI) and the Endicott work productivity score (EWP).
At baseline, 32% of patients had normal scores on the Q-LES-Q. By the end of the 12 weeks, 61% of patients taking sertraline and 46% of those on placebo had normal scores on this scale (P=0.016). Among patients who were more than one standard deviation below the community mean at baseline, 49% had normal scores by week 12 in the sertraline group, compared with 29% in the placebo group (P=0.0273).
Sertraline therapy also resulted in significant improvement in the SDI compared with placebo, and there was a trend toward more improvement in the EWP in those taking sertraline compared with placebo.
Dr. Liebowitz concluded that patients who are chronically ill with social anxiety disorder -- even for as long as 20 years -- can respond to 12 weeks of treatment with sertraline and improve their ability to function as well as the way they feel.
[Study title: Efficacy of Sertraline in Improving Disability and Quality of Life Impairment in Severe Social Anxiety Disorder. P117]
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