Citalopram for the treatment of adolescent anxiety disorders: a pilot study

Charts of 17 adolescent patients treated naturalistically with citalopram for various anxiety disorders were reviewed. Patients were retrospectively assessed using the Clinical Global Impression (CGI)-Severity scale at the beginning and end of treatment. Eighty-two percent (14/17) of patients were rated as much or very much improved on the CGI-Improvement scale after treatment with citalopram. Patients were treated for an average of 156-/+85.1 days at a mean dose of 32.3-/+18.5 mg/day of citalopram. Fifty-three percent (9/17) of this sample had previous exposure to alternative selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, and 89% (8/9) of those patients responded positively to citalopram. Citalopram appeared well tolerated, with only one patient discontinuing treatment due to side effects. In this naturalistic setting, citalopram appeared to be a well-tolerated and effective treatment for a range of anxiety disorders in adolescents.