Trial reportEuropean archives of psychiatry and clinical neuroscience2011
The effect of low-dose omega 3 fatty acids on the treatment of mild to moderate depression in the elderly: a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study.
Trial report in European archives of psychiatry and clinical neuroscience, 2011. 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 27 papers, 9 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.
A Prophylactic Trial of Omega-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids in Bipolar Disorder
Who cites it
27 citing papers in PubMed, 9 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 75 citations in OpenAlex.
- Anti-inflammatory interventions for the treatment and prevention of depression among older adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Translational psychiatry · 2025Pooled it
- Omega-3 fatty acids for depression in adults.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2021Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Effects of Omega 3 Fatty Acids on Main Dimensions of Psychopathology.International journal of molecular sciences · 2020Pooled it
- Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids: What is Their Role in Treatment of Psychiatric Disorders?International journal of molecular sciences · 2019Pooled it
- Efficacy of omega-3 PUFAs in depression: A meta-analysis.Translational psychiatry · 2019Pooled it
- The Role of Docosahexaenoic Acid (DHA) on Cognitive Functions in Psychiatric Disorders.Nutrients · 2019Pooled it
- Efficacy of omega-3 highly unsaturated fatty acids in the treatment of depression.The British journal of psychiatry : the journal of mental science · 2016Pooled 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
- Trial
- The effect of omega-3 fatty acids on depressive symptoms and inflammatory markers in maintenance hemodialysis patients: a randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial.European journal of clinical pharmacology · 2014Trial
- Malnutrition is associated with lower oxygen radical absorbance capacity in older adults: a cross-sectional study.BMC geriatrics · 2026Article
- The Role of Inflammation in Depression and Beyond: A Primer for Clinicians.Current psychiatry reports · 2024Review
- A scoping review of over-the-counter products for depression, anxiety and insomnia in older people.BMC complementary medicine and therapies · 2024Article
- Current Insights into the Use of Probiotics and Fatty Acids in Alleviating Depression.Microorganisms · 2023Review
- n-3 PUFAs for depression: treatment effect or absence-of-placebo effect?Translational psychiatry · 2022Article
- Intrinsic Capacity in Older Adults: Recent Advances.Aging and disease · 2022Article
- A Revision on the Effectiveness of Omega-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids as Monotherapy in the Treatment of Major Depressive Disorder.International journal of clinical practice · 2022Review
- Factors related to the length of stay for major depressive disorder patients in China: A real-world retrospective study.Frontiers in public health · 2022Article
- Disentangling the Molecular Mechanisms of the Antidepressant Activity of Omega-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acid: A Comprehensive Review of the Literature.International journal of molecular sciences · 2021Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Due to the rise in the social and economic costs of depression, new antidepressant medication with fewer side effects should be found. Several studies have shown that an association exists between ω-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (ω-3 PUFAs) and depression. However, this association has not been clear enough in the elderly with mild to moderate depression. Sixty-six inhabitants of Kahrizak Charity Foundation participated in this double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study. Each participant was ≥ 65 years of age, had a Mini Mental State Exam of ≥ 22, and had scores ranging from 5 to 11 on the Geriatric Depression Scale-15 (GDS-15). During the 6 months, the drug group was treated daily with one gram of fish oil capsule containing 300 mg of both eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid. No significant differences were noted between the groups in regard to level of education, use of antidepressant drugs, alcohol, tobacco use, history of chronic diseases, age, body mass index (BMI), high-sensitive C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), total cholesterol, and GDS-15 scores at baseline. After adjusting for cholesterol, BMI, and history of thyroid dysfunctions, a statistically significant difference was seen in GDS-15 scores between both groups. Furthermore, treatment with ω-3 PUFAs was clinically more effective in treating depression in comparison with the placebo. In this study, low-dose ω-3 PUFAs had some efficacy in the treatment of mild to moderate depression in elderly participants.
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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.