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Predictive value of pharmacological activity for the relative efficacy of antidepressant drugs. Meta-regression
N Freemantle1, I M Anderson, P Young
1Medicines Evaluation Group, Centre for Health Economics, University of York, Heslington, York YO10 5DD, UK. meg@york.ac.uk
Background:
There is uncertainty about the contribution of specific pharmacological properties to the efficacy of antidepressants.
Aims:
To assess whether specific pharmacological characteristics of alternative antidepressants resulted in altered efficacy compared to that of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors in the treatment of major depression.
Method:
Meta-regression analysis of randomised trials that compare treatment with a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor and an alternative antidepressant.
Results:
One-hundred-and-five randomised trials were included. None of the factors identified a priori predicted a statistically significant improvement in outcome across the trials.
Conclusions:
This analysis does not provide evidence that antidepressants acting at more than one pharmacological site differ in efficacy from drugs selective for serotonin reuptake in the treatment of major depression.
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