title: Long-term administration of escitalopram in patients with social anxiety disorder in Japan.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the safety, tolerability, and effectiveness of escitalopram in patients with social anxiety disorder in Japan.
  
  
  METHODS
  A 52-week, open-label study was conducted in Japanese patients with social anxiety disorder with a total score ≥60 on the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale - Japanese Version (LSAS-J) and ≥4 on the Clinical Global Impression - Severity Scale. Escitalopram 10 mg/day was administered for the first week and could be increased to 20 mg/day.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The study included 158 patients: 81.0% (128/158) completed 52 weeks of escitalopram treatment, 68.4% (108/158) increased their dose to 20 mg/day, and 56.3% (89/158) remained on 20 mg/day. Adverse drug reactions were reported by 57.6% (91/158) of patients. The most common (incidence ≥10%) were somnolence and nausea. The incidence of adverse drug reactions was similar in extensive and poor metabolizers of cytochrome P450 2C19. No adverse drug reactions increased in incidence by >5% after week 12. The incidence of serious adverse events was 1.3% (2/158). No deaths occurred. The LSAS-J total scores improved until week 52. The LSAS-J response rate (≥30% improvement in LSAS-J) was 69.0%, the Clinical Global Impression - Improvement Scale response rate (≤2) was 73.0%, and the LSAS-J remission rate (≤30) was 27.0%.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In this first 52-week clinical study of social anxiety disorder, escitalopram 10-20 mg/day was safe, well tolerated, and effective in Japanese patients.
authors.affiliation: Health Care Center and Department of Psychiatry, Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine, Sapporo, Hokkaido.
authors.forename: Satoshi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Asakura
authors.affiliation: Clinical Development Planning and Management, Mochida Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd, Tokyo.
authors.forename: Taiji
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hayano
authors.affiliation: Clinical Development Planning and Management, Mochida Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd, Tokyo.
authors.forename: Atsushi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hagino
authors.affiliation: Clinical Research Center, Oyachi Hospital, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan.
authors.forename: Tsukasa
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Koyama
keywords: Japanese; escitalopram; long-term study; selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors; social anxiety disorder