TITLE:
Rate of social anxiety disorder, its comorbidity with depression and paroxetine effects in outpatients in Japan
AUTHORS:
Yukihiko Shirayama, Michio Takahashi, Masatoshi Suzuki, Atsushi Kimura, Koichi Sato
KEYWORDS:
Social Anxiety Disorder; Depression; Paroxetine; Comorbidity
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Psychiatry,
Vol.3 No.1A,
February
26,
2013
ABSTRACT: The
prevalence of persons with social anxiety disorder (SAD) in Japan remains
unknown. This study examined 293 patients with age between 20 and 60 at first
visit on the outpatient clinic of psychiatry by the section of social phobia of
M.I.N.I. and DSM-IV. After that, 10 patients with both SAD out of 16 patients
(trial recruited) completed 12 weeks of treatment with paroxetine. Among 63 patients with 4 points and 40
patients with 3 points on the M.I.N.I., 21 patients (33%) and 16 patients (40%)
were diagnosed as SAD on DSM-IV criteria, respectively. Together, 37 patients
(12.6%) were diagnosed as SAD out of the 293 outpatients. Among 37 patients
with SAD, 23 patients (62%) had comorbid depression. As for 10 patients after
treatment with paroxetine, 8 patients improved from the point of recovery of
depression (HAM-D scores below 10), whereas only 4 patients improved from the
point of recovery of social phobia (L-SAS scores below 30). Three points as
well as 4 points on the M.I.N.I. is meaningful for the diagnosis of SAD. For a
while, paroxetine exerted less beneficial effects on SAD rather than on
depression.