Premium
Concomitant Therapy with Anxiolytics or Hypnotics and Maintenance of Initial SSRI Therapy
Author(s) -
Shields Shelly A.,
Gregor Karl J.,
Young Christopher H.,
James Steven P.
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
pharmacotherapy: the journal of human pharmacology and drug therapy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.227
H-Index - 109
eISSN - 1875-9114
pISSN - 0277-0008
DOI - 10.1002/j.1875-9114.1998.tb03151.x
Subject(s) - discontinuation , medicine , concomitant , maintenance therapy , serotonin reuptake inhibitor , hypnotic , anxiolytic , combination therapy , pharmacotherapy , antidepressant , anesthesia , psychiatry , chemotherapy , anxiety
We conducted a retrospective analysis to evaluate the relationship between anxiolytic or hypnotic therapy and maintenance of therapy with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). Subjects were 654 patients who received anxiolytics or hypnotics early in SSRI therapy (study group) and 15,172 patients who did not (controls). Maintenance of SSRI therapy was evaluated during the 6 months after start of therapy and included days of initial SSRI therapy and rates of discontinuation, defined as a break of more than 30 days. Rates of discontinuation in study and control groups (84% and 77%, p=0.001) and average days of initial SSRI therapy (77 and 94 days, p<0.0001) were statistically different. Thus patients receiving anxiolytic or hypnotics in the first 60 days of therapy were less likely to continue initial SSRI therapy.