Find a Drug
Advanced Search

Professional

Prozac

Clinical Pharmacology
font size

Clinical Pharmacology

A longer-term study was conducted involving adult outpatients meeting DSM-IV criteria for major depressive disorder who had responded (defined as having a modified HAMD-17 score of ≤ 9, a CGI-Severity rating of ≤ 2, and no longer meeting criteria for major depressive disorder) for 3 consecutive weeks at the end of 13 weeks of open-label treatment with Prozac 20 mg once daily. These patients were randomized to double-blind, once-weekly continuation treatment with Prozac Weekly, Prozac 20 mg once daily, or placebo. Prozac Weekly once weekly and Prozac 20 mg once daily demonstrated superior efficacy (having a significantly longer time to relapse of depressive symptoms) compared with placebo for a period of 25 weeks. However, the equivalence of these 2 treatments during continuation therapy has not been established.

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

Adult — The effectiveness of Prozac for the treatment of obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) was demonstrated in two 13-week, multicenter, parallel group studies (Studies 1 and 2) of adult outpatients who received fixed Prozac doses of 20, 40, or 60 mg/day (on a once-a-day schedule, in the morning) or placebo. Patients in both studies had moderate to severe OCD (DSM-III-R), with mean baseline ratings on the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (YBOCS, total score) ranging from 22 to 26. In Study 1, patients receiving Prozac experienced mean reductions of approximately 4 to 6 units on the YBOCS total score, compared with a 1-unit reduction for placebo patients. In Study 2, patients receiving Prozac experienced mean reductions of approximately 4 to 9 units on the YBOCS total score, compared with a 1-unit reduction for placebo patients. While there was no indication of a dose-response relationship for effectiveness in Study 1, a dose-response relationship was observed in Study 2, with numerically better responses in the 2 higher dose groups. The following table provides the outcome classification by treatment group on the Clinical Global Impression (CGI) improvement scale for Studies 1 and 2 combined:

Outcome Classification (%) on CGI Improvement Scale for Completers in Pool of Two OCD Studies

    Prozac
Outcome Classification Placebo 20 mg 40 mg 60 mg
Worse 8% 0% 0% 0%
No change 64% 41% 33% 29%
Minimally improved 17% 23% 28% 24%
Much improved 8% 28% 27% 28%
Very much improved 3% 8% 12% 19%

Exploratory analyses for age and gender effects on outcome did not suggest any differential responsiveness on the basis of age or sex.

Pediatric (children and adolescents) — In one 13-week clinical trial in pediatric patients (N=103 randomized; 75 children ages 7 to < 13, 28 adolescents ages 13 to < 18) with OCD, patients received Prozac 10 mg/day for 2 weeks, followed by 20 mg/day for 2 weeks. The dose was then adjusted in the range of 20 to 60 mg/day on the basis of clinical response and tolerability. Prozac produced a statistically significantly greater mean change from baseline to endpoint than did placebo as measured by the Children's Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (CY-BOCS).

Subgroup analyses on outcome did not suggest any differential responsiveness on the basis of age or gender.

Bulimia Nervosa

The effectiveness of Prozac for the treatment of bulimia was demonstrated in two 8-week and one 16-week, multicenter, parallel group studies of adult outpatients meeting DSM-III-R criteria for bulimia. Patients in the 8-week studies received either 20 or 60 mg/day of Prozac or placebo in the morning. Patients in the 16-week study received a fixed Prozac dose of 60 mg/day (once a day) or placebo. Patients in these 3 studies had moderate to severe bulimia with median binge-eating and vomiting frequencies ranging from 7 to 10 per week and 5 to 9 per week, respectively. In these 3 studies, Prozac 60 mg, but not 20 mg, was statistically significantly superior to placebo in reducing the number of binge-eating and vomiting episodes per week. The statistically significantly superior effect of 60 mg versus placebo was present as early as Week 1 and persisted throughout each study. The Prozac-related reduction in bulimic episodes appeared to be independent of baseline depression as assessed by the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale. In each of these 3 studies, the treatment effect, as measured by differences between Prozac 60 mg and placebo on median reduction from baseline in frequency of bulimic behaviors at endpoint, ranged from 1 to 2 episodes per week for binge-eating and 2 to 4 episodes per week for vomiting. The size of the effect was related to baseline frequency, with greater reductions seen in patients with higher baseline frequencies. Although some patients achieved freedom from binge-eating and purging as a result of treatment, for the majority, the benefit was a partial reduction in the frequency of binge-eating and purging.

Brand Name: Prozac
Generic Name: Fluoxetine Hcl
Bookmark this page:
WebMD Symptom Checker - Start Here Diseases & Conditions: A comprehensive A-Z listing

Antidepressant Side EffectsAntidepressant Side Effects
A new study says over half of all people treated with antidepressants stop taking them because of side effects. See more WebMD Videos »

Emotional Wellness

Get tips on therapy and treatment.