title: Cognitive therapy versus fluoxetine in the treatment of dysthymic disorder.
abstract: We studied the effects of a fixed dose of fluoxetine (20 mg) or cognitive psychotherapy in a 16 week trial of patients with dysthymic disorder. More patients assigned to fluoxetine dropped out of the 16 week treatment (33%) than those assigned to cognitive therapy (9%), but this difference did not attain statistical significance. Both treatments showed improvement over baseline conditions at 8 weeks and further improvement at 16 weeks. There were no statistically significant group differences in treatment response. No follow-up data were collected so the enduring effects of the treatments are unknown. An optimal treatment for dysthymic disorder may be combined psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy for a longer period of time.
authors.affiliation: Outpatient Psychiatry Center, Seattle, WA 98105-6099, USA.
authors.forename: D L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Dunner
authors.forename: K B
authors.initials: KB
authors.lastname: Schmaling
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hendrickson
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Becker
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lehman
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bea
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D018687:Antidepressive Agents, Second-Generation / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D015928:Cognitive Behavioral Therapy; D019263:Dysthymic Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D005473:Fluoxetine / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010555:Personality Inventory; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D018687:Antidepressive Agents, Second-Generation; D005473:Fluoxetine