Comparing escitaloipram with sertraline for obsessive and compulsive symptoms in patients with obsessive compulsive disorder: A comparative double blind clinical trial.

BACKGROUND: Escitalopram has some unique features among selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. The aim of this survey is to compare the efficacy of escitalopram with sertraline on obsessive and compulsive symptoms in patients with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). METHODS: In this 12-week double blind controlled randomized clinical trial, 57 patients with OCD were randomly allocated to receive escitalopram or sertraline. Yale Brown obsessive compulsive behavior scale (YBOCS) was used to assess the outcomes. Adverse effects were also recorded. RESULTS: 41 patients (20 in the escitalopram group and 21 in the sertraline group) completed the trial. In the escitalopram group 15 (70%) patients and in the sertraline group 16 (76.19%) patients showed more than 34% decrease in mean YBOCS score at the end of the trial (P=0.531). The two groups revealed significant decrease in YBOCS scores without significant difference (P=0.861) at week 12. No serious adverse effects were reported. CONCLUSIONS: Our results demonstrated that escitalopram is as effective as sertraline in treatment of obsessions and compulsions in patients with OCD. However, it needs to be noted that our study is preliminary and larger double blind controlled studies are needed to confirm the results.