title: The long-term treatment of social phobia with moclobemide.
abstract: Patients meeting the social phobia criteria of the revised third edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-III-R) on the DSM-III-R Structured Clinical Interview (n = 101) entered a long-term moclobemide treatment study. These patients were treated for 2 years with moclobemide (phase I) followed by drug withdrawal, in most cases abruptly (phase II). Those who relapsed entered phase III for a further period of 2 years of treatment. During phase I 40 patients (39.6%) withdrew due to inefficacy or relapse. Two patients were removed from the study because of other diagnoses (borderline or schizophreniform). At the end of phase I the remaining patients (58.4%) were rated as not ill (45.5%) or minimally ill (11.9%). Effort was taken to achieve the maximum dose of moclobemide (750 mg/day) and the mean (+/-SD) dose was 723.3 +/- 67.7 mg/day (month 21). A marked decrease in symptoms in the patients who responded was recorded on the Liebowitz Scale for Social Phobia, Clinical Global Impressions. Hamilton Anxiety Scale and Hamilton Depression Scale. Non-response was mainly associated with co-morbidity, especially alcohol abuse, axis II disorders, and a history of major depression or secondary dysthymia. The drug was well tolerated; the more frequent side effects were mild and occurred mainly in the first 2 months of phase I, including nausea, headaches or insomnia. In phase II there was a relapse rate of 88% and 51 patients entered phase III; these patients are still being treated.
authors.affiliation: Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Versiani
authors.forename: A E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Nardi
authors.forename: F D
authors.initials: FD
authors.lastname: Mundim
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pinto
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Saboya
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kovacs
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001549:Benzamides / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005260:Female; D006261:Headache / Q000139:chemically induced; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D020912:Moclobemide; D008996:Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D009325:Nausea / Q000139:chemically induced; D010698:Phobic Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy*; D007319:Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders / Q000139:chemically induced
chemical_list: D001549:Benzamides; D008996:Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitors; D020912:Moclobemide