1993/06/01 by Mark D. Sullivan, Michelle T. Toshima, Pamela Lynn +1 · 18 citations
Neuroscience · Psychology · Medicine · #Pain Management and Placebo Effect #Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes #Treatment of Major Depression #Clonazepam #Sedative #Hypnotic #Anesthesia #Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory #Medicine #Sedative/hypnotic #Benzodiazepine #Bromazepam #Anxiety #Tranquilizer #Phenobarbital #Diazepam #Psychology #Psychiatry #Internal medicine #Personality
paper · doi:10.3109/10401239309148974
published in Annals of Clinical Psychiatry 5(2), 123-128
openalex publication_date 1993/06/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/22
A randomized, double-blind controlled trial is reported comparing phenobarbital and clonazepam for the purpose of sedative-hypnotic taper in inpatients with chronic, nonmalignant pain. After receiving the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) and a standardized psychiatric diagnostic interview, patients' baseline sedative-hypnotic use was assessed over 48 hours. Baseline use was converted into phenobarbital or clonazepam equivalents and administered in four doses daily using a blinded liquid pain cocktail. Baseline dose was maintained for two days and then tapered by 10% per day. Over the first week of taper, differences in mean and maximum Beck Anxiety and Benzodiazepine Withdrawal scores were not significant. However, when scales 1, 3, or 8 of the MMPI were taken as covariates, differences on the Withdrawal Scale only increased to a trend level for mean scores and to a significant level for maximum scores. These findings support the superiority of benzodiazepines over barbiturates for sedative-hypnotic taper for symptoms of withdrawal but not of recurrent or rebound anxiety.