OBJECTIVETo compare the efficacy of Chinese medicine and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI), fluoxetine, on somatic disorder (SD) and to explore the advantage of Chinese medicine.

METHODSPatients with SD screened with Hamilton depression scale (HAMD) were randomly assigned to the fluoxetine group treated with fluoxetine 20 mg once per day administered after breakfast, and the Chinese medicine group with combination of Xiaoyao Decoction (XD) and Wendan Decoction (WD) one dose a day given before supper everyday, the treatment for both groups was lasted for 8 weeks. Clinical general impression (CGI) and symptom checklist 90 (SCL-90) were applied to evaluate the changes in symptoms before and after treatment, and a self-made rating scale was used to evaluate the adverse reaction.

RESULTSCGI score changed significantly in both groups after treatment, showed the average 2-week reduction rate of more than 30% and the average 8-week reduction rate of more than 70%, without significant difference shown between the two groups (P > 0.05). SCL-90 scoring showed the average score of somatic factor was significantly lower in the Chinese medicine group than in the fluoxetine group (P < 0.05) with few adverse reaction, while no significant difference was found in the respective scores of other factors between the two groups (P > 0.05).

CONCLUSIONChinese medicine shows noticeable superiority in treating SD, it has the effect similar to that of new antidepressants.