Davidson 2004
Davidson 2004
Davidson 2004
Background: Generalized social phobia is common, per- Scale and Clinical Global Impressions scales as primary
sistent, and disabling and is often treated with selective outcomes. A videotaped behavioral assessment served as
serotonin reuptake inhibitor drugs or cognitive behav- a secondary outcome, using the Subjective Units of Dis-
ioral therapy. tress Scale. Adverse effects were measured by self-
rating. Each treatment was compared by means of 2 tests
Objective: We compared fluoxetine (FLU), compre- and piecewise linear mixed-effects models.
hensive cognitive behavioral group therapy (CCBT), pla-
cebo (PBO), and the combinations of CCBT/FLU and Results: Clinical Global Impressions scales response rates
CCBT/PBO. in the intention-to-treat sample were 29 (50.9%) (FLU),
31 (51.7%) (CCBT), 32 (54.2%) (CCBT/FLU), 30 (50.8%)
D e s i g n : Randomized, double-blind, placebo- (CCBT/PBO), and 19 (31.7%) (PBO), with all treat-
controlled trial. ments being significantly better than PBO. On the Brief
Social Phobia Scale, all active treatments were superior
Setting: Two academic outpatient psychiatric centers. to PBO. In the linear mixed-effects models analysis, FLU
was more effective than CCBT/FLU, CCBT/PBO, and PBO
Patients: Subjects meeting a primary diagnosis of gen- at week 4; CCBT was also more effective than CCBT/
eralized social phobia were recruited via advertisement. FLU and CCBT/PBO. By the final visit, all active treat-
Seven hundred twenty-two were screened, and 295 were ments were superior to PBO but did not differ from each
randomized and available for inclusion in an intention- other. Site effects were found for the Subjective Units of
to-treat efficacy analysis; 156 (52.9%) were male, 226 Distress Scale assessment, with FLU and CCBT/FLU su-
(76.3%) were white, and mean age was 37.1 years. perior to PBO at Duke University Medical Center,
Durham, NC. Treatments were well tolerated.
Interventions: Treatment lasted for 14 weeks. Fluox-
etine and PBO were administered at doses from 10 mg/d Conclusions: All active treatments were superior to PBO
to 60 mg/d (or equivalent). Group comprehensive cog- on primary outcomes. Combined treatment did not yield
nitive behavioral therapy was administered weekly for any further advantage. Notwithstanding the benefits of
14 sessions. treatment, many patients remained symptomatic after 14
weeks.
Main Outcome Measures: An independent blinded
evaluator assessed response with the Brief Social Phobia Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2004;61:1005-1013
S
OCIAL PHOBIA, NOW OFTEN RE- recognition of GSP was no more than 0.5%
ferred to as social anxiety dis- of all cases.4
order, is widespread with Controlled trials suggest benefit from
prevalence rates as high as medication and psychosocial ap-
Author Affiliations: 14% in the United States,1 be- proaches. Among medications, the selec-
Department of Psychiatry and gins early in life, and rarely remits.2 Of the tive serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI)
Behavioral Sciences, Duke 2 types of social phobia, generalized so- group is the most extensively studied.5
University Medical Center, cial phobia (GSP) is believed to be more Cognitive behavioral treatments (CBTs)
Durham, NC (Drs Davidson,
severe than nongeneralized.3 A recent are also effective in social phobia, espe-
Keefe, Compton, Connor,
Lynch, and Gadde); and the study of GSP in a health maintenance or- cially a form of group CBT, which in-
Department of Psychiatry, ganization setting showed an 8% preva- cludes cognitive restructuring, exposure
University of Pennsylvania, lence rate, along with raised incidence of to simulated situations in sessions, and in
Philadelphia, Pa (Drs Foa, suicide attempts, greater health seeking, vivo exposure homework assignments.6
Huppert, Franklin, and Zhao). and reduced earning capacity; physician Group CBT has been found to be more ef-
FLU Group CCBT Group CCBT/FLU Group CCBT/PBO Group PBO Group Test P Value
No. of subjects 57 60 59 59 60
Women 42.9 53.3 54.2 36.2 45.8 42 = 5.33 .26
White 71.4 71.2 84.7 75.9 82.8 42 = 5.30 .26
Age, y, mean (SD) 36.3 (11.1) 36.7 (9.1) 38.2 (10.7) 37.8 (10.2) 36.9 (10.6) F4,283 = 0.31 .87
Abbreviations: CCBT, comprehensive cognitive behavioral therapy; FLU, fluoxetine; PBO, placebo.
*Values are expressed as percentages unless otherwise indicated.
fective than psychoeducation,6 atenolol,7 and buspirone pist. The study coordinator at each site enrolled and allocated
hydrochloride8 and equivalent to phenelzine sulfate.6 subjects to their treatment groups. This individual was blind
Comprehensive cognitive behavior therapy (CCBT) was to the sequence prior to assignment.
developed by Foa et al (unpublished data, 1994) for GSP. Medication was administered and monitored by a psychia-
trist. Medication sessions were audiotaped, and tapes were au-
In this group CBT, social skills training is added to ex-
dited at random by 1 of the investigators at each site. Pharmaco-
posure therapy and cognitive restructuring, because so- therapy was provided according to the study manual and adherence
cial skills deficits are a pertinent part of GSP and may rated according to a standardized checklist (available on re-
not respond well to programs if skill training is absent.9 quest) to assure that no CCBT was being conducted and that medi-
With the emergence of SSRIs as frontline and proven cation was being provided in a standard way. Medication visits
pharmacotherapy for GSP, we considered it important to occurred weekly for 4 weeks, then every 2 weeks. Study investi-
compare an SSRI with CCBT. To our knowledge, this is 1 gators (E.B.F., F.J.K., and M.E.F.) videotaped and evaluated CCBT
of only 2 completed GSP studies to include a combina- at each site and provided feedback to therapists in weekly super-
tion cell in which subjects received both CCBT and an vision sessions (adherence rating scale available by request). Early
SSRI.10 Our project had 5 overall goals: (1) to compare the in the trial, the sites provided feedback to therapists via weekly
supervisory conference calls to ensure consistency of treatment
effects of 14 weeks’ treatment with fluoxetine (FLU) alone,
across sites. Group CCBT was administered at weekly intervals.
group alone (CCBT), combined CCBT/FLU, CCBT/ Enrollment began in early 1995 and continued until Sep-
placebo (PBO) (to take into account nonspecific pill tak- tember 2001. Regular conference calls were held between the
ing), and PBO alone; (2) to evaluate maintenance of treat- 2 sites throughout. The protocol was approved by the institu-
ment effects following completion of treatment; (3) to tional review board at each site, and all subjects provided writ-
demonstrate transportability of treatments (ie, that CCBT ten informed consent.
can be successfully implemented in a center specializing
in pharmacotherapy [Duke University Medical Center, SAMPLE
Durham, NC] and vice versa for a center specializing in
Inclusion criteria were: (1) DSM-IV diagnosis of GSP; (2) age be-
medication [University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pa]);
tween 18 and 65 years; (3) fluency in English; and (4) provision
(4) to investigate mechanisms of therapeutic change by of written informed consent. Exclusion criteria were: (1) a pri-
examining the relationship between cognitive distortions mary comorbid anxiety disorder (defined by which disorder was
and social skills deficits; and (5) to explore predictors of the more debilitating and clinically salient); (2) lifetime history
treatment response. This report will focus on the first goal, of schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or organic brain syndrome; (3)
short-term effects of the 5 treatments. major depression within the last 6 months; (4) substance abuse
or dependence within the past year; (5) mental retardation or per-
vasive developmental disability; (6) unstable medical condition;
METHODS
(7) prior failure of response to fluoxetine at 60 mg/d for at least
4 weeks or to 12 weekly sessions of CCBT for GSP; (8) concur-
OVERALL DESIGN rent psychiatric treatment or other psychoactive medications; (9)
positiveurinedrugscreenresults;(10)inabilitytomaintain2weeks’
The study was conducted at 2 academic medical centers with psychotropic drug-free washout; and (11) pregnancy or lactation.
outpatient programs specializing in anxiety disorder research. Table 1 presents demographic characteristics by treat-
At each research center, FLU, CCBT, CCBT/FLU, CCBT/PBO, ment group, showing no group differences. Between-site demo-
and PBO were all compared, with FLU and PBO being admin- graphic differences were observed for ethnicity, marital sta-
istered on a double-blind basis. An independent rater, blinded tus, and employment, with fewer African American subjects and
to treatment assignments, conducted the primary outcome as- more married and employed subjects in the Duke University
sessments. Eligible subjects met DSM-IV criteria for primary Medical Center site sample, as compared with the University
GSP, assessed by the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM- of Pennsylvania site sample. Baseline symptom scores for each
IV.11 Subjects underwent psychiatric and medical evaluation to treatment group are shown in Table 2.
establish inclusion and exclusion criteria. Subjects were as-
signed to treatment by block randomization, which was gen- TREATMENT ADMINISTRATION
erated by computer program at Duke University Medical Cen-
ter, in groups of 10, with 2 subjects assigned to each of the 5 Fluoxetine was started at 10 mg/d, increasing on day 8 to 20
conditions. There were some exceptions to the implementa- mg/d, on day 15 to 30 mg/d, and on day 29 to 40 mg/d. Unless
tion of this process because of a small number of prerandom- adverse effects became problematic, the goal was for subjects
ization dropouts. We balanced CCBT groups to include at least to reach 40 mg/d. At days 43 and 57, the dose could be raised
2 women and 2 men and typically had a male and a female thera- to 50 mg/d and 60 mg/d, respectively, if subjects failed to achieve
FLU Group CCBT Group CCBT/FLU Group CCBT/PBO Group PBO Group Test P Value
Effects of Treatment
No. of subjects
Week 0 57 60 59 59 60
Week 14 39 48 42 46 36
BSPS score
Week 0 38.4 (9.6) 39.2 (10.4) 39.1 (9.9) 37.6 (9.9) 37.3 (8.5) F4,274 = 0.49 .75
Week 0-4 F4,654 = 4.13 .003
Week 4-14 F4,647 = 2.89 .02
Week 14† 20.8 (13.2) 20.6 (9.9) 21.6 (12.6) 20.5 (12.1) 26.7 (13.5)
CGI-S score
Week 0 4.4 (0.1) 4.5 (0.1) 4.4 (0.1) 4.4 (0.1) 4.3 (0.1) F4,274 = 0.33 .86
Week 0-4 F4,654 = 4.08 .003
Week 4-14 F4,647 = 3.46 .01
Week 14‡ 2.7 (1.2) 2.9 (1.2) 2.7 (1.2) 2.8 (1.2) 3.3 (1.3)
SPAI score
Week 0§ 97.5 (24.8) 106.1 (21.3) 109.9 (23.8) 111.3 (21.0) 112.0 (21.0) F4,274 = 3.63 .007
Week 0-4 F4,654 = 1.03 .39
Week 4-14 F4,647 = 2.3 .05
Week 14† 69.3 (37.2) 77.1 (28.7) 76.1 (31.5) 75.4 (32.0) 94.8 (28.0)
Response Rate at Week 14
ITT sample, %㛳 50.9 51.7 54.2 50.8 31.7 42 = 8.03 .09
Completer sample, %¶ 64.1 64.6 66.7 58.7 38.9 42 = 8.09 .09
Abbreviations: BSPS, Brief Social Phobia Scale; CCBT, comprehensive cognitive behavioral therapy; CGI-S, Clinical Global Impressions Severity scale;
FLU, fluoxetine; ITT, intention to treat; PBO, placebo; SPAI, Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory.
*Values are expressed as mean (SD) unless otherwise indicted. Statistics and P values were calculated by LMM analyses.
†All individual treatments were superior to PBO at week 14 (P⬍.05).
‡All individual treatments were superior to PBO, except CCBT/PBO, at week 14 (P⬍.05).
§At week 0, FLU treatment was superior to CCBT/FLU, CCBT/PBO, and PBO (P⬍.05).
㛳All individual treatment response rates were superior to PBO at week 14 (P⬍.05).
¶All individual treatment response rates were superior to PBO, except CCBT/PBO, at week 14 (P⬍.05).
4368 Called
62 Abandoned
4306 Screened
3602 Ineligible
Excluded:
173 Not Meeting Inclusion Criteria
722 Assessed for Eligibility
65 Refused to Participate
189 Other Reasons
295 Randomized
57 Allocated to FLU Group 60 Allocated to CCBT Group 59 Allocated to CCBT/FLU Group 59 Allocated to CCBT/PBO Group 60 Allocated to PBO Group
5 Dropped Out Pretreatment 3 Dropped Out Pretreatment 3 Dropped Out Pretreatment 1 Dropped Out Pretreatment 4 Dropped Out Pretreatment
39 Completed Treatment 48 Completed Treatment 42 Completed Treatment 46 Completed Treatment 36 Completed Treatment
13 Dropped Out 9 Dropped Out 14 Dropped Out 12 Dropped Out 20 Dropped Out
Reason for Dropping Out: Reason for Dropping Out: Reason for Dropping Out: Reason for Dropping Out: Reason for Dropping Out:
5 Adverse Effects 4 Time Commitment 4 Unclear 5 Unclear 5 Not Improving
3 Unclear 2 Treatment Too Difficult 2 Depressed 2 Lost to Follow-up 4 Unclear
2 Depression 2 Lack of Efficacy 2 Not Improving 2 Treatment Too Difficult 3 Treatment Too Difficult
1 Not Improving 1 Worsening 2 Treatment Too Difficult 2 Depression or Lack of 2 Adverse Effects
1 Treatment Too Difficult 1 Adverse Effects Efficacy 2 Depression
1 Scheduling 1 Pregnant 1 Scheduling 2 Job
1 Moving 1 Tasted Pill
1 Scheduling 1 Unknown
Figure 1. Flowchart of subject progress through the phases of the study. There were 295 subjects in the intention-to-treat analysis and 211 subjects in the
completer analysis. CCBT indicates comprehensive cognitive behavioral therapy; FLU, fluoxetine; PBO, placebo.
LMMS ANALYSIS
35
BSPS Score, Mean
FLU Group CCBT Group CCBT/FLU Group CCBT/PBO Group PBO Group Test P Value
No. of subjects
University of Pennsylvania
Week 0 27 29 28 27 29
Week 14 20 22 20 21 17
Duke University Medical Center
Week 0 27 30 30 29 27
Week 14 21 24 25 25 21
University of Pennsylvania
Postinstruction score
Week 0 31.0 (18.7) 29.5 (21.4) 28.7 (19.4) 27.4 (20.4) 35.6 (22.5) F4,123 = 0.62 .65
Week 14 24.3 (18.1) 33.4 (17.9) 30.5 (17.6) 26.1 (14.0) 25.0 (21.0) F4,81 = 0.64 .63
Anticipatory score
Week 0 45.1 (16.8) 44.8 (18.3) 47.9 (23.7) 39.2 (19.8) 47.8 (16.2) F4,123 = 0.87 .48
Week 14 30.3 (16.4) 37.0 (15.0) 34.9 (19.2) 34.2 (17.7) 35.4 (21.3) F4,81 = 0.92 .45
Aftermath score
Week 0 49.1 (21.0) 50.4 (20.1) 54.6 (24.2) 44.2 (19.8) 52.5 (20.6) F4,123 = 0.91 .46
Week 14 36.8 (18.2) 33.3 (17.8) 35.6 (18.9) 36.3 (20.6) 44.0 (22.1) F4,81 = 0.95 .44
Duke University Medical Center
Postinstruction score
Week 0† 33.9 (21.4) 29.4 (20.5) 42.8 (24.1) 28.2 (14.5) 29.6 (15.4) F4,135 = 2.68 .03
Week 14‡ 21.5 (12.6) 32.3 (20.2) 33.7 (17.8) 28.5 (18.1) 36.6 (22.7) F4,106 = 2.05 .09
Anticipatory score
Week 0 43.1 (18.9) 43.2 (19.2) 54.4 (23.7) 46.6 (18.8) 45.6 (16.6) F4,135 = 1.60 .18
Week 14§ 25.0 (16.9) 36.4 (20.7) 30.8 (13.1) 31.8 (14.2) 44.6 (21.1) F4,106 = 3.60 .009
Aftermath score
Week 0 48.1 (22.7) 47.4 (21.5) 60.1 (22.8) 51.7 (15.9) 52.7 (15.2) F4,135 = 1.84 .13
Week 14㛳 31.1 (21.5) 38.1 (22.1) 28.0 (13.7) 31.3 (16.7) 47.9 (20.2) F4,106 = 3.52 .01
Abbreviations: CCBT, comprehensive cognitive behavioral therapy; FLU, fluoxetine; PBO, placebo.
*Values are expressed as mean (SD) unless otherwise indicated. Statistics and P values were calculated by LMM analyses. Given the treatment time by site
interaction, data are presented separately for each site. Final Subjective Units of Distress Scale scores given (0 = relaxed and calm; 100 = extremely fearful).
Pairwise differences were significant at P⬍.05, 2-tailed.
†At week 0, CCBT/FLU treatment was superior to PBO, CCBT, and CCBT/PBO treatments (P⬍.05).
‡At week 14, FLU treatment was superior to PBO, CCBT/FLU, and CCBT treatments (P⬍.05).
§At week 14, CCBT/FLU, FLU, and CCBT/PBO treatments were superior to PBO; FLU treatment was superior to CCBT treatment (P⬍.05).
㛳At week 14, CCBT/FLU, FLU, CCBT/PBO treatments were superior to PBO treatment (P⬍.05).
FLU Group CCBT Group CCBT/FLU Group CCBT/PBO Group PBO Group P
Parameter (n = 48) (n = 44) (n = 53) (n = 55) (n = 52) 42 Value
Insomnia†‡§㛳 47.9 (33.3-62.8) 13.6 (5.0-27.3) 45.3 (31.6-59.6) 41.8 (28.7-55.9) 42.3 (28.7-56.8) 14.82 .005
Headaches†‡§㛳 31.2 (18.7-46.2) 6.8 (1.4-18.7) 34.3 (21.5-48.3) 27.3 (16.1-41.0) 38.5 (25.3-53.0) 13.76 .008
Nausea†‡§㛳¶ 18.8 (9.0-32.6) 0.0 (0.0-8.0) 17.0 (8.1-29.8) 9.1 (3.0-22.0) 15.4 (6.9-28.1) 10.08 ⬍.04
Anorgasmia‡§㛳#**††‡‡ 32.4 (22.2-50.5) 4.6 (0.86-15.5) 28.3 (16.8-42.4) 7.3 (2.0-17.6) 9.6 (3.2-21.0) 26.79 ⬍.001
Erectile dysfunction‡㛳** 10.4 (3.5-22.7) 0.0 (1.0-8.0) 5.7 (1.2-15.7) 14.6 (6.5-26.7) 1.9 (0.04-10.3) 11.55 ⬍.02
Abbreviations: CCBT, comprehensive cognitive behavioral therapy; FLU, fluoxetine; PBO, placebo.
*Values are expressed as rate percentage (95% confidence interval). Adverse effect identified by an increase of at least 2 points (on a 0-3 scale) relative to
baseline at any assessment point and counted only once per patient.
†Significant pairwise control PBO vs CCBT; PBO was worse.
‡Significant pairwise control CCBT/PBO vs CCBT; CCBT/PBO was worse.
§Significant pairwise control CCBT/FLU vs CCBT; CCBT/FLU was worse.
㛳Significant pairwise control FLU vs CCBT; FLU was worse.
¶Significant pairwise control CCBT/FLU vs FLU; CCBT/FLU was worse.
#Significant pairwise control CCBT/FLU vs PBO; CCBT/FLU was worse.
**Significant pairwise control FLU vs PBO; FLU was worse.
††Significant pairwise control CCBT/FLU vs CCBT/PBO; CCBT/FLU was worse.
‡‡Significant pairwise control FLU vs CCBT/PBO; FLU was worse.
tage of the therapeutic impact of an SSRI, when psycho- and adverse effects or pseudo adverse effects that may
social treatment is added to established SSRI therapy, its appear early in the course of treatment. Our findings about
effects would not be obfuscated by issues of pill taking adverse effects are interesting in this regard, because they