The British Journal of Psychiatry (2006) 188: 305-312. doi: 10.1192/bjp.188.4.305
© 2006 The Royal College of Psychiatrists
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REVIEW ARTICLE

Psychotherapy plus antidepressant for panic disorder with or without agoraphobia

Systematic review

TOSHI A. FURUKAWA, MD, PhD and NORIO WATANABE, MD

Department of Psychiatry and Cognitive–Behavioural Medicine, Nagoya City University Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Nagoya, Japan

RACHEL CHURCHILL, MSc, PhD

Cochrane Collaboration Depression, Anxiety and Neurosis Review Group, Health Services Research Department, Institute of Psychiatry, London, UK

Correspondence: Professor Toshi A. Furukawa, Department of Psychiatry and Cognitive–Behavioural Medicine, Nagoya City University Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Nagoya City University Medical School, Mizuho-cho, Mizuho-ku, Nagoya 467-8601, Japan. Tel: +81 52 853 8271; fax: +81 52 852 0837; e-mail: furukawa{at}med.nagoya-cu.ac.jp

Declaration of interest T.A.F. has received research grants and fees for speaking from several pharmaceutical companies. These companies did not provide funding for the current study (see Acknowledgements).

Background Panic disorder can be treated with psychotherapy, pharmacotherapy or a combination of both.

Aims To summarise the evidence concerning the short- and long-term benefits and adverse effects of a combination of psychotherapy and antidepressanttreatment.

Method Meta-analyses and meta-regressions were undertaken using data from all relevant randomised controlled trials identified by a comprehensive literature search. The primary outcome was relative risk (RR) of response.

Results We identified 23 randomised comparisons (21 trials involving a total of 1709 patients). In the acute-phase treatment, the combined therapy was superior to antidepressant pharmacotherapy (RR=1.24,95% CI1.02–1.52) or psychotherapy (RR=1.16,95% CI1.03–1.30). After termination of the acute-phase treatment, the combined therapy was more effective than pharmacotherapy alone (RR=1.61,95% CI1.23–2.11) and was as effective as psychotherapy (RR=0.96, 95% CI 0.79–1.16).

Conclusions Either combined therapy or psychotherapy alone may be chosen as first-line treatment for panic disorder with or without agoraphobia, depending on the patient’s preferences.


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Psychotherapy plus antidepressant for panic disorder with or without agoraphobia
Dr Grace Ghunang, et al.
BJP Online, 21 Jun 2006 [Full text]