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Psychotherapy plus antidepressant for panic disorder with or without agoraphobia: systematic review
Toshi A Furukawa1, Norio Watanabe, Rachel Churchill
1Department of Psychiatry and Cognitive-Behavioural Medicine, Nagoya City University Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Nagoya City University Medical School, Mizuho-cho, Mizuho-ku, Nagoya 467-8601, Japan. furukawa@med.nagoya-cu.ac.jp
Background:
Panic disorder can be treated with psychotherapy, pharmacotherapy or a combination of both.
Aims:
To summarise the evidence concerning the short- and long-term benefits and adverse effects of a combination of psychotherapy and antidepressant treatment.
Method:
Meta-analyses and meta-regressions were undertaken using data from all relevant randomised controlled trials identified by a comprehensive literature search. The primary outcome was relative risk (RR) of response.
Results:
We identified 23 randomised comparisons (21 trials involving a total of 1709 patients). In the acute-phase treatment, the combined therapy was superior to antidepressant pharmacotherapy (RR=1.24,95% CI1.02-1.52) or psychotherapy (RR=1.16,95% CI1.03-1.30). After termination of the acute-phase treatment, the combined therapy was more effective than pharmacotherapy alone (RR=1.61,95% CI1.23-2.11) and was as effective as psychotherapy (RR=0.96, 95% CI 0.79-1.16).
Conclusions:
Either combined therapy or psychotherapy alone may be chosen as first-line treatment for panic disorder with or without agoraphobia, depending on the patient's preferences.
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