A fixed-dose study of alprazolam 2 mg, alprazolam 6 mg, and placebo in panic disorder

A recently reported multinational, 8-week double-blind, placebo-controlled study assessing the efficacy of alprazolam versus placebo in the treatment of panic disorder indicated significant differences favoring alprazolam. We now report the results of a three-site, 6-week, double-blind, fixed-dose study comparing alprazolam 2 mg, alprazolam 6 mg, and placebo in 94 patients with panic disorder with or without agoraphobia. Both alprazolam treatment groups (6 mg and 2 mg) improved significantly more than did the placebo treatment group on most outcome measures. Only a few statistically significant differences between the 6 mg and 2 mg alprazolam groups were discerned, although the pattern of treatment response across measures suggested a dose effect. Dropouts in the placebo group were primarily due to lack of efficacy and in the alprazolam 6 mg group were due to side effects, which may have contributed to the limited differences between groups at study end. The findings suggest that many patients may require less than 6 mg of alprazolam per day for effective treatment of panic disorder.