ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: Paroxetine is known to have fewer cognitive side effects than older antidepressants such as amitriptyline. To confirm this objectively, we compared the effects of paroxetine on the psychomotor performance with those of amitriptyline in 10 healthy volunteers. METHOD: Paroxetine and amitriptyline were administered orally in a double-blind, two-way, single dose, crossover design. Assessments of psychomotor performances were carried out before and 2 and 6 hours after administration of single dose of paroxetine (40mg) or amitriptyline (50mg). Each treatment day was separated by 1 week of washout period. The psychomotor performances were measured using Vienna Determination Unit, Vienna Reaction Time, Vienna Signal Detection, Grooved Pegboard Test and Finger Tapping Test. The data were analyzed using two-way, repeated measures ANOVA on a crossover model. RESULTS: The results showed that paroxetine 40mg produced no significant performance decrements on the every test of psychomotor performances, whereas amitriptyline 50mg produced markedly impaired performance on most of the psychomotor tests. CONCLUSION: This study confirmed pervious findings that paroxetine is generally devoid of adverse side effects on psychomotor performance.