A prospective naturalistic study of antidepressant-induced jitteriness/anxiety syndrome

Figures & data

Table 1 Clinical characteristics of the 301 patients

Characteristic	Total (n=301)		Patients with jitteriness/anxiety syndrome (n=21)		Patients without jitteriness/anxiety syndrome (n=280)		Analysis
	Mean	SD	Mean	SD	Mean	SD	t	df	P
Age (years)	45.3	17.8	38.2	16.0	45.9	17.8	1.91	299	0.057
	n	%	n	%	n	%	χ^2	df	P
Female sex	212	70.4	17	81.0	195	69.6	1.20	1	0.33
SSRIs	208	69.1	17	81.0	191	68.2	1.49	1	0.33
Sertraline	100	33.2	7	33.3	93	33.2	0	1	1.00
Paroxetine	79	26.2	8	38.1	71	25.4	1.64	1	0.21
SNRIs	14	4.7	1	4.8	13	4.6	0	1	1.00*
TCAs	62	20.6	1	4.8	61	21.8	3.46	1	0.09*
Combined use of BZD	104	34.6	9	42.9	95	33.9	0.69	1	0.48
MDD	99	32.9	11	52.4	88	31.4	3.89	1	0.057
Anxiety disorder	59	19.6	6	28.6	53	18.9	1.15	1	0.27
Family history#	14	4.7	5	23.8	9	3.2	18.7	1	0.001

Notes:

* Fisher’s exact test

# first-degree relatives with mood disorder.

Abbreviations: SD, standard deviation; SSRIs, selective serotonin-reuptake inhibitors; SNRIs, selective serotonin norepinephrine-reuptake inhibitors; TCAs, tricyclic antidepressants; BZD, benzodiazepine; MDD, major depressive disorder.

Table 2 Logistic regression analysis of variables associated with jitteriness/anxiety syndrome

Variable	β	SE	P	Odds ratio	95.0% CI
Female sex	1.04	0.62	0.09	2.84	0.84–9.56
Age	−0.03	0.02	0.07	0.97	0.94–1.00
SSRIs	−0.47	0.86	0.58	0.62	0.12–3.33
SNRIs	−0.32	1.33	0.81	0.73	0.05–9.89
TCAs	−1.45	1.40	0.30	0.23	0.02–3.65
Combined use of BZD	0.32	0.52	0.54	1.37	0.50–3.77
MDD	1.54	0.68	0.02	4.65	1.23–17.6
Anxiety disorder	1.13	0.73	0.12	3.08	0.74–12.8
Family history#	2.33	0.67	0.001	10.2	2.75–38.0

Note:

# First-degree relatives with mood disorder.

Abbreviations: SE, standard error; CI, confidence interval; SSRIs, selective serotonin-reuptake inhibitors; SNRIs, selective serotonin norepinephrine-reuptake inhibitors; TCAs, tricyclic antidepressants; BZD, benzodiazepine; MDD, major depressive disorder.

Table 3 Types of interventions for jitteriness/anxiety syndrome and outcome

Intervention	Total	Improved	Unchanged	Worsened	Unknown
Stopping the antidepressant	9	8	–	–	1
Continuing the antidepressant	6	3	1	–	2
Changing the antidepressant	3	2	–	–	1
Adding another agent	1	1	–	–	–
Decreasing the antidepressant	1	1	–	–	–
Increasing the antidepressant	1	–	1	–	–
Total	21	15	2	–	4