Pharmacological treatments

Abstract

The changes over time in the criteria used to diagnose GAD make it difficult to generalise the findings on efficacy from early studies where the selected patient samples fulfilled earlier criteria focusing on short prior duration of the condition. These studies would include an undetermined but substantial proportion of patients in whom the GAD was of short duration. Relating the results to GAD as currently defined by a prolonged prior duration is complicated. Caution is therefore needed in assessing the efficacy of some of the earlier treatments where studies were carried out in patient samples with short duration GAD.