Effect of Reboxetine on Reduction of Anxiety Symptoms in Depressed Children and Adolescents

Anxiety is common in depressed children and adolescents. Reboxetine is only norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor that may be useful for depressed adults with co-morbid anxiety. Thus this study is carried out to assess effect of reboxetine on anxiety symptoms of depressed children and adolescents. This open trial is performed in twenty, outpatients with major depressive or dysthymic disorder with anxiety symptoms. Easy sampling was used. Dose of reboxetine was 4.36±1.20 mg/day. Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HARS) was used to assess anxiety.The 20 patients selected in studies (7-17 years old, mean 12.80 ± 2.82 years) (female=10, male=10). Following reboxetine administration, HARS score and its somatic and psychic factors were significantly reduced (p<0.001). In addition, anxiety symptoms were reduced about 43.22% during first week and 69.63% after 8 weeks of treatment. Reboxetine does not exacerbate anxiety symptoms but quickly improves them during first week of administration. The effectiveness increases with prolonged use. Double blind -placebo controlled studies are needed to establish this conclusion.