Abstract
Prazepam, a benzodiazepine derivative similar in chemical structure and biological activity to diazepam and chlordiazepoxide, has been reported in the literature to possess antianxiety properties in daily doses of up to 80 mg/day. Shaffer et al. 1 found 40–80 mg/day prazepam more effective than placebo but not chlordiazepoxide, in relief of postwithdrawal anxiety in alcoholics. Studies with anxious outpatient psychoneurotics have shown prazepam to be more effective than placebo and equally effective to chlordiazepoxide. For example Silver et al. 2 found prazepam 30–60 mg superior to chlordiazepoxide and placebo in overall efficacy at 4 weeks but not at 2 weeks, while Dunlop and Weisberg 3 reported similar results with 30–60 mg at an endpoint of 4 or 6 weeks. The present 4 week double-blind study was undertaken to help determine the optimum daily dosage of prazepam. To this end the study was designed not only to test the efficacy of 2 daily dosage regimens of prazepam, i.e., 40 and 60 mg, but also to make use of its relatively long half-life by administering it once daily at bedtime.
Published Version
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