Tricyclics and SSRIs are equally effective in primary care

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and tricyclic antidepressants are equally effective when given to patients in primary care, concludes a systematic review, but more patients taking tricyclic antidepressants withdraw from treatment. MacGillivray et al (p 1014) performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of 11 studies with 2951 participants and used mean depression scores and the clinical global impression score to measure outcome. They also found that more patients receiving a tricyclic antidepressant stopped treatment owing to side effects than patients receiving a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor. The authors say that these dropout rates were lower than in reviews of studies based in secondary care, so they conclude that the study setting is probably an important factor in assessing efficacy and tolerability of antidepressant drugs.

CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    StumbleUpon    Technorati    What's this?

Relevant Article

Efficacy and tolerability of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors compared with tricyclic antidepressants in depression treated in primary care: systematic review and meta-analysis

Steve MacGillivray, Bruce Arroll, Simon Hatcher, Simon Ogston, Ian Reid, Frank Sullivan, Brian Williams, and Iain Crombie
BMJ 2003 326: 1014. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]