Escitalopram for older adults with generalized anxiety disorder: a randomized controlled trial.

ABSTRACT:

Context

Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is one of the most common psychiatric disorders in older adults; however, few data exist to guide clinicians in efficacious and safe treatment. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are efficacious for younger adults with GAD, but benefits and risks may be different in older adults.

Objective

To examine the efficacy, safety, and tolerability of the SSRI escitalopram in older adults with GAD.

Design, setting, and participants

A randomized controlled trial in primary care practices and related specialty clinics in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, of 177 participants aged 60 years or older with a principal diagnosis of GAD randomized to receive either escitalopram or placebo and conducted between January 2005 and January 2008

SUBMITTER: Lenze EJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2840403 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature