Effectiveness of antidepressants. Meta-analysis of dose-effect relationships in randomised clinical trials

British Journal of Psychiatry

Volumn 174, Issue APR., 1999, Pages 297-303

  Bollini, Paola ^b   Pampallona, Sandro ^b   Tibaldi, Giuseppe ^a   Kupelnick, Bruce ^b   Munizza, Carmine ^a  

^a Ctro Studi e Ric in Psichiatria   (Italy)

^b NONE

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

AMFEBUTAMONE; ANTIDEPRESSANT AGENT; CITALOPRAM; CLOMIPRAMINE; FLUOXETINE; FLUVOXAMINE; IMIPRAMINE; ISOCARBOXAZID; MAPROTILINE; MINAPRINE; MOCLOBEMIDE; MONOAMINE OXIDASE A INHIBITOR; NEFAZODONE; PAROXETINE; PHENELZINE; ROLIPRAM; SEROTONIN UPTAKE INHIBITOR; SERTRALINE; TETRACYCLIC ANTIDEPRESSANT AGENT; TRICYCLIC ANTIDEPRESSANT AGENT; VENLAFAXINE;

ADVERSE DRUG REACTION; CLINICAL TRIAL; DEPRESSION; DOSE RESPONSE; DRUG EFFICACY; DRUG POTENCY; DRUG SAFETY; HUMAN; META ANALYSIS; REVIEW; SEDATION; TREATMENT OUTCOME;

EID: 0032901648     PISSN: 00071250     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1192/bjp.174.4.297     Document Type: Review

References (43)

1. Altamura, A. C., Montgomery, S. A. & Wernicke, J. F. (1988) The evidence for 20 mg a day of fluoxetine as the optimal dose in the treatment of depression. British Journal of Psychiatry, 153 (suppl. 3), 109-112.
2. American Psychiatric Association (1976) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (2nd edn) (DSM II). Washington, DC: APA.
3. _ (1980) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (3rd edn) (DSM III). Washington, DC: APA.
4. _ (1987) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (3rd edn, revised) (DSM - III - R). Washington, DC: APA.
5. Anderson, I. M. & Tomeson, B. M. (1995) Treatment discontinuation with selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors compared with tricyclic antidepressants: a meta-analysis. British Medical Journal, 310, 1433-1437.
6. Barnes, R. J. & Guarino, R. A. (1980) Single-versus multiple-dose comparative trial of desipramine hydrochloride: a double-placebo method. Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, 20, 681-688.
7. Beasley, C. M. Jr., Sayler, M. E., Weiss, A. M., et al (1992) Fluoxetine: activating and sedating effects at multiple fixed doses. Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology, 12, 328-333.
8. Benkert, O., Szegedi, A. & Wetzel, H. (1996) Minimum effective dose for antidepressants an obligatory requirement for antidepressant drug evaluation? International Clinical Psychopharmacology, 11, 177-185.
9. Bjerkenstedt, L., Edman, G., Flyckt, L., et al (1985) Clinical and biochemical effects of citalopram, a selective 5-HT reuptake inhibitor - a dose-response study in depressed patients. Psychopharmacology, 87, 253-259.
10. Blashki, T. G., Mowbray, R. & Davies, B. (1971) Controlled trial of amitriptyline in general practice. British Medical Journal, 1, 133-138.
11. Branconnier, R. L., Cole, J. O., Ghazvinian, S., et al (1983) Clinical pharmacology of bupropion and imipramine in elderly depressives. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 44, 130-133.
12. Brugha, T. S., Bebbington, P. E., MacCarthy, B., et al (1992) Antidepressants may not assist recovery in practice: a naturalistic prospective survey. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 86, 5-11.
13. Craig Nelson, J. (1997) Safety and tolerability of the new antidepressants. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 58, 26-31.
14. D'Amico, M. F., Roberts, D. L., Robinson, D. S., et al (1990) Placebo-controlled dose-ranging trial designs in phase II development of nefazodone. Psychopharmacology Bulletin, 26, 147-150.
15. Diggel, P., Liang, K. Y. & Zeger, S. L. (1994) Analysis of Longitudinal Data. New York: Oxford University Press.
16. Donoghue, J. M. & Tylee, A. (1994) The treatment of depression: prescribing patterns of antidepressants in primary care in the UK. British Journal of Psychiatry, 168, 164-168.
17. Dunlop, S., Dornself, B., Wernicke, J. F. (1990) Pattern analysis shows beneficial effect of fluoxetine treatment in mild depression. Psychopharmacology Bulletin, 26, 173-180.
18. Dunner, D. L. & Dunbar, G. C. (1992) Optimal dose regimen for paroxetine. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 53, 21-26.
19. Fabre, L. F. & Putman, H. P. (1987) A fixed-dose trial of fluoxetine in outpatients with major depression. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 48, 406-408.
20. Fawcett, J. & Barkin, R. L. (1997) Efficacy issues with antidepressants. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 58 (suppl. 6), 32-39.
21. Gram, L. F. (1990) Inadequate dosing and pharmacokinetic variability as confounding factors in assessment of efficacy of antideprcssants. Clinical Neuropharmacology, 13 (suppl. I), 535-544.
22. Greenberg, R. P. & Fisher, S. (1989) Examining antidepressant effectiveness: findings, ambiguities, and some vexing puzzles. In The Limits of Biological Treatments for Psychological Distress. Comparisons with Psychotherapy and Placebo (eds S. Fisher & R. P. Greenberg), pp. 1-38. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
23. Guy, W. (1976) ECDEU Assessment Manual for Psychopharmacology. Revised DHEW Pub. (ADM). Rockville, MD: National Institute for Mental Health.
24. Halaris, A. E., Stern, W. C., van Wyck Fleet, J., et al (1983) Evaluation of the safety and efficacy of bupropion in depression. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 44, 101-103.
25. Hamilton, M. (1960) A rating scale for depression. Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry, 23, 56-62.
26. Hebenstreit, G. F., Felklerer, K., Zochling, R., et al (1989) A pharmacokinetic dose titration study in adult and elderly depressed patients. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 80 (suppl. 350), 81-84.
27. Hotopf, M., Hardy, R. & Lewis, G. (1997a) Discontinuation rates of SSRls and tricyclic antideprcssants: a meta-analysis and investigation of heterogeneity. British Journal of Psychiatry, 170, 120-127.
28. _, Lewis, G. & Normand, C. (1997b) Putting trials on trial - the costs and consequences of small trials in depression: a systematic review of methodology. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 51, 354-358.
29. Jadad, A., Moore, R. A., Carroll, D., et al (1996) Assessing the quality of reports of randomized clinical trials: is blinding necessary? Controlled Clinical Trials, 17, 1-12.
30. Katon, W., von Korff, M., Lin, E., et al (1992) Adequacy and duration of antidepressant treatment in primary care. Medical Care, 30, 67-76.
31. Kendrick, T. (1996) Prescribing antidepressants in general practice (and subsequent letters). British Medical Journal, 313, 829-830;
32. 314, 826-829.
33. Khan, A., Fabre, L. F. & Rudolph, R. (1991) Venlafaxine in depressed outpatients. Psychopharmacalogy Bulletin, 27, 141-144.
34. Martin, R. M., Hilton, S. R., Kelly, S. M., et al (1997) General practitioners' perceptions of the tolerability of antidepressant drugs: a comparison of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and tricyclic antideprcssants. British Medical Journal, 314, 646-651.
35. Moncrieff, J., Wessely, S. & Hardy, R. (1998) Metaanalysis of trials comparing antidepressants with active placebos. British Journal of Psychiatry, 172, 227-231.
36. Montgomery, S. A., Rasmussen, J. G., Lyby, K., et al (1992) Dose response relationship of citalopram 20 mg, citalopram 40 mg and placebo in the treatment of moderate and severe depression. International Clinical Psychopharmacology, 6 (suppl. 5), 65-70.
37. Munizza, C., Tibaldi, F., Bollini, P., et al (1995) Prescription pattern of antidepressants in out-patient psychiatric practice. Psychological Medicine, 25, 771-778.
38. Preskorn, S. H. (1994) Antidepressant drug selection: criteria and options. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 55 (suppl. A), 6-24.
39. Schiwy, W., Heath, W. R. & Delini-Stula, A. (1989) Therapeutic and side-effect profile of a selective and reversible MAO-A inhibitor, brofaromine. Results of dose-finding trials in depressed patients. Journal of Neural Transmission, 28, 33-44.
40. Spitzer, R. L., Endicott J. & Robins, E. (1978) Research Diagnostic Criteria: rationale and reliability. Archives of General Psychiatry, 35, 773-782.
41. Wernicke, J. F., Bosomworth, J. C. & Ashbrook, E. (1989) Fluoxetine at 20 mg per day: the recommended and therapeutic dose in the treatment of depression. International Clinical Psychopharmacology, 4, 63-67.
42. Wilcox, C. S., Ferguson, J. M., Dale, J. L., et al (1996) A double-blind trial of low- and high-dose ranges of gepiron-CR compared with placebo in treatment of depressed patients. Psychopharmacology Bulletin, 32, 335-341.
43. World Health Organization (1978) Mental Disorders: Glossary and Guide to their Classification in Accordance with the Ninth Revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-9), Geneva: WHO.