These tools will no longer be maintained as of December 31, 2024. Archived website can be found here. PubMed4Hh GitHub repository can be found here. Contact NLM Customer Service if you have questions.


Pubmed for Handhelds

PUBMED FOR HANDHELDS

Search MEDLINE/PubMed

  • Title: Switching from long-term benzodiazepine therapy to pregabalin in patients with generalized anxiety disorder: a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.
    Author: Hadley SJ, Mandel FS, Schweizer E.
    Journal: J Psychopharmacol; 2012 Apr; 26(4):461-70. PubMed ID: 21693549.
    Abstract:
    To evaluate the efficacy of pregabalin in facilitating taper off chronic benzodiazepines, outpatients (N = 106) with a lifetime diagnosis of generalized anxiety disorder (current diagnosis could be subthreshold) who had been treated with a benzodiazepine for 8-52 weeks were stabilized for 2-4 weeks on alprazolam in the range of 1-4 mg/day. Patients were then randomized to 12 weeks of double-blind treatment with either pregabalin 300-600 mg/day or placebo while undergoing a gradual benzodiazepine taper at a rate of 25% per week, followed by a 6-week benzodiazepine-free phase during which they continued double-blind study treatment. Outcome measures included ability to remain benzodiazepine-free (primary) as well as changes in Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAM)-A and Physician Withdrawal Checklist (PWC). At endpoint, a non-significant higher proportion of patients remained benzodiazepine-free receiving pregabalin compared with placebo (51.4% vs 37.0%). Treatment with pregabalin was associated with significantly greater endpoint reduction in the HAM-A total score versus placebo (-2.5 vs +1.3; p < 0.001), and lower endpoint mean PWC scores (6.5 vs 10.3; p = 0.012). Thirty patients (53%) in the pregabalin group and 19 patients (37%) in the placebo group completed the study, reducing the power to detect a significant difference on the primary outcome. The results on the anxiety and withdrawal severity measures suggest that switching to pregabalin may be a safe and effective method for discontinuing long-term benzodiazepine therapy.
    [Abstract] [Full Text] [Related] [New Search]