A randomized controlled clinical trial of citalopram versus fluoxetine in children and adolescents with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).

OBJECTIVE: Several controlled trials have demonstrated the efficacy and safety of Fluoxetine in children and adolescents with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), but there is no controlled study on the effectiveness of Citalopram in this group. This report describes the use of Citalopram in comparison with Fluoxetine in childhood-onset OCD.

METHOD: This study is a randomized, double blind, fixed-does (20mg) trial of Fluoxetine versus Citalopram in 29 children and adolescents (17 boys and 12 girls) with OCD, aged 7-18 years (mean 13.8 and SD 3.05). The length of study was 6 weeks. Obsessive-Compulsive symptom severity was measured by Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (CY-BOCS) and Clinician's Global Impression Scale (CGI). DICA (Diagnostic Interview of Children and Adolescents) was used to diagnose the psychiatric disorders.

RESULTS: Each group showed significant improvement over the baseline as measured by the CY-BOCS (p < 0.01) but not by CGI (p = NS). The Comparison between two groups showed no significant differences in efficacy and safety of the drugs. Most common adverse effects were headache for Citalopram and tremor for Fluoxetine.

CONCLUSION: The results suggest that Citalopram is as safe and effective as Fluoxetine for children and adolescents with OCD. Further studies are needed to replicate our findings.