What is the clinical effectiveness and safety of buspirone versus benzodiazepines, serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors for the treatment of anxiety?
This summary is based on the Rapid Response Report developed by the Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health: Use of Buspirone for the treatment of anxiety: A review of the clinical effectiveness, safety, and cost effectiveness
Full Report (PDF)
- What is the comparative clinical effectiveness of buspirone versus benzodiazepines, serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors for the treatment of anxiety?
- What is the comparative safety of buspirone versus benzodiazepines, serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors for the treatment of anxiety?
- What is the cost-effectiveness of buspirone versus benzodiazepines, serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors for the treatment of anxiety?
Results
The literature search yielded 102 citations with an additional two studies from the grey literature. Of these 104 reports, 10 answered the research questions and were deemed potentially relevant. Following full-text reviews, five studies met the inclusion criteria for this review.
Key Messages
- There is no conclusive evidence to suggest that buspirone is more effective than BZD, SSRIs, or SNRIs.
- Buspirone was associated with less drowsiness, fatigue, nervousness, depression and sleep disturbance than BZD.
- SSRIs and SNRIs can cause sedation, dizziness, falls, nausea, and sexual dysfunction.
- No evidence was found regarding the cost-effectiveness of buspirone versus BZD, SSRIs or SNRIs for the treatment of GAD.
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