Evidence map›Paper›PMID 17685742›Full record

SynthesisThe Journal of clinical psychiatry2007

A meta-analytic review of double-blind, placebo-controlled trials of antidepressant efficacy of omega-3 fatty acids.

Pao-Yen Lin, Kuan-Pin Su

Registry-linked trialAbstract readMeta-Analysis
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in The Journal of clinical psychiatry, 2007. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT04210804 (A Prophylactic Trial of Omega-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids in Bipolar Disorder), which is not on this map. Cited by 159 papers, 10 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
159citing papers in PubMed, 10 pooled it
32.1field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

NCT04210804 phase2completednot on this mapstarted 2014, after this paper: background citation

A Prophylactic Trial of Omega-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids in Bipolar Disorder

TypeinterventionalSponsorNational University of Ireland, Galway, IrelandRan2014 to 2018Enrolled80ConditionsBipolar DepressionArmsSmoothie 1g Eicosapentaneoic Acid (EPA) and 1g Docoshaexanoic Acid (DHA)
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

159 citing papers in PubMed, 10 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 489 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Omega-3 fatty acids for depression in adults.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2021
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  6. Omega-3 fatty acids for depression in adults.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2015
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  15. Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial of Omega-3 and Individual-Family Psychoeducational Psychotherapy for Children and Adolescents With Depression.Journal of clinical child and adolescent psychology : the official journal for the Society of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, American Psychological Association, Division 53 · 2019
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99 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Pao-Yen LinDepartment of Psychiatry, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital-Kaohsiung Medical Center, Chang Gung University College of Medicine, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
Kuan-Pin Su
Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital · TW

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveEvidence has indicated an association between depression and low dietary intake of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs). However, clinical trials examining the therapeutic benefit of omega-3 PUFAs in depression showed inconsistent results. The goal of this study is to systematically evaluate the antidepressant efficacy of omega-3 PUFAs by using meta-analytic method. DATA SOURCES: MEDLINE, Embase, and PsycINFO databases were searched from 1966 through August 2006 using the key words (depression OR depressive disorder OR mood disorder) AND (omega-3 OR EPA OR DHA OR poly-unsaturated fatty acid OR fish oil). The search was limited to literature in English and clinical trials. STUDY SELECTION: Ten double-blind, placebo-controlled studies in patients with mood disorders receiving omega-3 PUFAs with the treatment period lasting 4 weeks or longer were included. DATA EXTRACTION: Effect size (ES) of each individual study was derived by computing the standardized mean difference. A random-effects model was used to pool the ESs of all included studies. DATA SYNTHESIS: When pooling the results of 10 included studies (N = 329), we found a significant antidepressant effect of omega-3 PUFAs (ES = 0.61, p = .003). Likewise, omega-3 PUFAs significantly improved depression in patients with clearly defined depression (ES = 0.69, p = .002) or with bipolar disorder (ES = 0.69, p = .0009). The dosage of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) did not change the antidepressant efficacy significantly. However, significant heterogeneity among these studies and publication bias were noted.

conclusionsAlthough our meta-analysis showed significant antidepressant efficacy of omega-3 PUFAs, it is still premature to validate this finding due to publication bias and heterogeneity. More large-scale, well-controlled trials are needed to find out the favorable target subjects, therapeutic dose of EPA, and the composition of omega-3 PUFAs in treating depression.

Indexed as

AdultBipolar DisorderDepressive DisorderDouble-Blind MethodFatty Acids, Omega-3HumansMiddle AgedRandomized Controlled Trials as TopicTreatment OutcomeFatty Acids, Omega-3

Identifiers

PMID17685742
OpenAlexW1986373853

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.