SynthesisThe British journal of psychiatry : the journal of mental science2011
Efficacy of antidepressants and benzodiazepines in minor depression: systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in The British journal of psychiatry : the journal of mental science, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 78 papers, 8 of them syntheses that pooled 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.
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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
78 citing papers in PubMed, 8 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 220 citations in OpenAlex.
- Long-Term Effect of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy in Managing Subclinical Depression: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Depression and anxiety · 2025Pooled it
- Antidepressants for the treatment of depression in people with cancer.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2018Pooled it
- Industry sponsorship and research outcome.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2017Pooled it
- Antidepressants for the treatment of depression in people with cancer.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2015Pooled it
- Psychotherapy for subclinical depression: meta-analysis.The British journal of psychiatry : the journal of mental science · 2014Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Role of omega-3 fatty acids in the treatment of depressive disorders: a comprehensive meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials.PloS one · 2014Pooled it
- Evidence-based guidelines for mental, neurological, and substance use disorders in low- and middle-income countries: summary of WHO recommendations.PLoS medicine · 2011Guideline
- Evaluation of a probiotic blend on psychosocial health and biomarkers of inflammatory, immune and stress response in adults with subthreshold depression: a double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled trial.The British journal of nutrition · 2026Trial
- Using machine learning to forecast symptom changes among subclinical depression patients receiving stepped care or usual care.Journal of affective disorders · 2023Trial
- The clinical effectiveness of sertraline in primary care and the role of depression severity and duration (PANDA): a pragmatic, double-blind, placebo-controlled randomised trial.The lancet. Psychiatry · 2019Trial
- Trial
- Antidepressant Prescribing in Primary Care to Older Adults Without Major Depression.Psychiatric services (Washington, D.C.) · 2017Trial
- Evaluation of the Effectiveness of a Psychoeducational Intervention in Treatment-Naïve Patients with Antidepressant Medication in Primary Care: A Randomized Controlled Trial.TheScientificWorldJournal · 2015Trial
- Factors associated with antidepressant, anxiolytic, and other psychotropic medication use to treat psychiatric symptoms in the city of São Paulo, Brazil.International clinical psychopharmacology · 2014Trial
- Effectiveness of a psycho-educational group program for major depression in primary care: a randomized controlled trial.BMC psychiatry · 2012Trial
- Telephone cognitive-behavioral therapy for subthreshold depression and presenteeism in workplace: a randomized controlled trial.PloS one · 2012Trial
- The treatment of minor depression with St. John's Wort or citalopram: failure to show benefit over placebo.Journal of psychiatric research · 2011Trial
- Acupuncture and Moxibustion for Subthreshold Depression: a systematic review and Bayesian network meta-analysis.Journal of pharmacopuncture · 2026Review
- Effectiveness of fluoxetine and mindfulness therapy in improving depression in people with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus in Primary Care Settings (DIAMAND)-A single-blind, parallel-group, randomized controlled trial from Bengaluru.Indian journal of psychiatry · 2026Article
18 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 4 institutions in 5 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundDepression is a common condition that has been frequently treated with psychotropics.
aimsTo review systematically the evidence of efficacy and acceptability of antidepressant and benzodiazepine treatments for patients with minor depression.
methodA systematic review and meta-analysis of double-blind randomised controlled trials comparing antidepressants or benzodiazepines v. placebo in adults with minor depression. Data were obtained from MEDLINE, CINAHL, EMBASE, PsycInfo, Cochrane Controlled Trials Register and pharmaceutical company websites. Risk of bias was assessed for the generation of the allocation sequence, allocation concealment, masking, incomplete outcome data, and sponsorship bias.
resultsSix studies met inclusion criteria. Three studies compared paroxetine with placebo; fluoxetine, amitriptyline and isocarboxazid were studied in one study each. No studies compared benzodiazepines with placebo. In terms of failures to respond to treatment (6 studies, 234 patients treated with antidepressants and 234 with placebo) no significant difference between antidepressants and placebo was found (relative risk (RR) 0.94, 95% CI 0.81-1.08). In terms of acceptability, data extracted from two studies (93 patients treated with antidepressants and 93 with placebo) showed no statistically significant difference between antidepressants and placebo (RR=1.06, 95% CI 0.65-1.73). There was no statistically significant between-study heterogeneity for any of the reported analyses.
conclusionsThere is evidence showing there is unlikely to be a clinically important advantage for antidepressants over placebo in individuals with minor depression. For benzodiazepines, no evidence is available, and thus it is not possible to determine their potential therapeutic role in this condition.
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What OpenQuestion holds
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.