Paroxetine open-label treatment of pediatric outpatients with obsessive-compulsive disorder.
OBJECTIVE
Paroxetine is a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor with demonstrated efficacy in treating obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) in adults. This study evaluates the safety and effectiveness of paroxetine in pediatric OCD patients.


METHODS
In a 12-week, open-label trial of paroxetine, 20 OCD outpatients, aged 8 to 17 years, were treated for OCD with daily doses ranging from 10 to 60 mg. Target symptoms were rated at regular intervals with the Children's Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (CY-BOCS), the Children's Global Assessment Scale, the Clinical Global Impression Scale, the Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale, and the Yale Global Tic Severity Scale.


RESULTS
Paroxetine proved relatively safe in this brief trial with a small sample and appeared to be effective in patients with OCD; mean CY-BOCS scores decreased significantly (z = 3.49, p = .0005) from 30.6 +/- 3.5 to 21.6 +/- 6.8 on medication. The most common side effects (n > or = 2) were hyperactivity/behavioral activation, headache, insomnia, nausea, and anxiety. Paroxetine did not have to be discontinued in any of the patients because of side effects; the most serious side effects included hyperactivity/behavioral activation in 3 younger patients (< 10 years) necessitating dosage reduction but not discontinuation.


CONCLUSIONS
Preliminary evidence suggests that short-term treatment of pediatric OCD outpatients with paroxetine may be relatively safe and effective.
Rosenberg
D R
DR
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, MI 48201, USA. drosen@med.wayne.edu
Stewart
C M
CM
Fitzgerald
K D
KD
Tawile
V
V
Carroll
E
E
D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004334:Drug Administration Schedule; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009771:Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / Q000188:drug therapy*; D017374:Paroxetine / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D017367:Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D017374:Paroxetine; D017367:Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors