scholarly journals Efficacy and Safety of Antidiabetic Agents for Major Depressive Disorder and Bipolar Depression: A meta-analysis of randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trials

Author(s):  
Jian Zhang ◽  
Xi Yang ◽  
Rongyi Sun ◽  
Yang Cai ◽  
Keming Gao
CNS Spectrums ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 12 (S22) ◽  
pp. 10-12

There is mounting evidence to suggest that the efficacy of all available antidepressants when used as monotherapy to treat major depressive disorder (MDD) is, at best, modest. For example, a meta-analysis of all double-blind placebo-controlled studies of antidepressants published since 1980 revealed response rates of 53% for antidepressants versus 36% for placebo (difference in response rate of 16.8%) (Slide 1). To make matters worse, if one is to assume that “negative trials” (ie, trials which do not demonstrate the superiority of a drug over placebo) are less likely to be published than “positive trials” (trials which demonstrate the superiority of a drug versus placebo), it is quite possible that the margin of efficacy of antidepressants when compared to placebo is ≤16.8%. Thus, if one were to include all unpublished along with published double-blind, placebo-controlled trials of antidepressants for MDD, this efficacy margin could be ≤10%.


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