Generalised anxiety disorder.
BACKGROUND
Up to one in five people may have generalised anxiety disorder (GAD) at some point, and most have other health problems. Less than half of people have full remission after 5 years. GAD may have a genetic component, and has also been linked to previous psychological or other trauma.


OBJECTIVE
We conducted a systematic review and aimed to answer the following clinical question: What are the effects of treatments for GAD? We searched: Medline, Embase, The Cochrane Library and other important databases up to February 2006 (Clinical Evidence reviews are updated periodically, please check our website for the most up-to-date version of this review). We included harms alerts from relevant organisations such as the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).


RESULTS
We found 52 systematic reviews, RCTs, or observational studies that met our inclusion criteria.


CONCLUSIONS
In this systematic review we present information relating to the effectiveness and safety of the following interventions: abecarnil, antidepressants (imipramine, opipramol, paroxetine, sertraline, escitalopram and venlafaxine), antipsychotic drugs (trifluoperazine), applied relaxation, benzodiazepines, buspirone, cognitive behavioural therapy, hydroxyzine, kava, and pregabalin.
Gale
Christopher K
CK
Department of Psychological Medicine, Dunedin Medical School, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.
Millichamp
Jane
J
D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy; D015283:Citalopram / Q000627:therapeutic use; D015928:Cognitive Behavioral Therapy; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D006801:Humans; D017374:Paroxetine / Q000627:therapeutic use; D012074:Remission Induction; D020280:Sertraline / Q000627:therapeutic use
D015283:Citalopram; D017374:Paroxetine; D020280:Sertraline