SynthesisMolecular psychiatry2012
Omega-3 fatty acids for the treatment of depression: systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Molecular psychiatry, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 2 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 133 papers, 17 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.
Do Omega-3 Fatty Acids Have an Antidepressant Effect in Patients With Signs of Peripheral Inflammation?
Safety, Effectiveness, and Mechanism of Fish Oil as Adjunct Treatment for Major Depressive Disorder - a 12-month Randomized, Placebo Controlled Clinical Trial
Who cites it
133 citing papers in PubMed, 17 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 292 citations in OpenAlex.
- Efficacy of Pharmacological Interventions in Milder Depression: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Neuropsychopharmacology reports · 2025Pooled it
- Omega-3 PUFAs' efficacy in the therapy of coronary artery disease combined with anxiety or depression: a meta-analysis.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2024Pooled it
- Depression and lifestyle: Focusing on nutrition, exercise, and their possible relevance to molecular mechanisms.Psychiatry and clinical neurosciences · 2023Pooled it
- Pooled it
- The efficacy and safety of omega-3 fatty acids on depressive symptoms in perinatal women: a meta-analysis of randomized placebo-controlled trials.Translational psychiatry · 2020Pooled it
- Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids: What is Their Role in Treatment of Psychiatric Disorders?International journal of molecular sciences · 2019Pooled it
- Healthy dietary indices and risk of depressive outcomes: a systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies.Molecular psychiatry · 2019Pooled it
- N-3 Polyunsatured Fatty Acids in Menopausal Transition: A Systematic Review of Depressive and Cognitive Disorders with Accompanying Vasomotor Symptoms.International journal of molecular sciences · 2018Pooled it
- Treatment of depression in nursing home residents without significant cognitive impairment: a systematic review.International psychogeriatrics · 2017Pooled it
- Interventions to treat mental disorders during pregnancy: A systematic review and multiple treatment meta-analysis.PloS one · 2017Pooled it
- Canadian Network for Mood and Anxiety Treatments (CANMAT) 2016 Clinical Guidelines for the Management of Adults with Major Depressive Disorder: Section 5. Complementary and Alternative Medicine Treatments.Canadian journal of psychiatry. Revue canadienne de psychiatrie · 2016Pooled 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
- Meta-analysis and meta-regression of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid supplementation for major depressive disorder.Translational psychiatry · 2016Pooled it
- ω-3 Fatty acids for major depressive disorder in adults: an abridged Cochrane review.BMJ open · 2016Pooled it
- Omega-3 fatty acids for depression in adults.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2015Pooled it
- Suicide mortality in relation to dietary intake of n-3 and n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids and fish: equivocal findings from 3 large US cohort studies.American journal of epidemiology · 2014Pooled 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
- ω-3 Fatty Acids in Pediatric Major Depressive Disorder: A Randomized Clinical Trial.JAMA network open · 2026Trial
- Supplementation-induced increase in circulating omega-3 serum levels is not associated with a reduction in depressive symptoms: Results from the MooDFOOD depression prevention trial.Depression and anxiety · 2020Trial
- Omega-3 supplementation from pregnancy to postpartum to prevent depressive symptoms: a randomized placebo-controlled trial.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2017Trial
73 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
We conducted a meta-analysis of randomized, placebo-controlled trials of omega-3 fatty acid (FA) treatment of major depressive disorder (MDD) in order to determine efficacy and to examine sources of heterogeneity between trials. PubMed (1965-May 2010) was searched for randomized, placebo-controlled trials of omega-3 FAs for MDD. Our primary outcome measure was standardized mean difference in a clinical measure of depression severity. In stratified meta-analysis, we examined the effects of trial duration, trial methodological quality, baseline depression severity, diagnostic indication, dose of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) in omega-3 preparations, and whether omega-3 FA was given as monotherapy or augmentation. In 13 randomized, placebo-controlled trials examining the efficacy of omega-3 FAs involving 731 participants, meta-analysis demonstrated no significant benefit of omega-3 FA treatment compared with placebo (standard mean difference (SMD)=0.11, 95% confidence interval (CI): -0.04, 0.26). Meta-analysis demonstrated significant heterogeneity and publication bias. Nearly all evidence of omega-3 benefit was removed after adjusting for publication bias using the trim-and-fill method (SMD=0.01, 95% CI: -0.13, 0.15). Secondary analyses suggested a trend toward increased efficacy of omega-3 FAs in trials of lower methodological quality, trials of shorter duration, trials which utilized completers rather than intention-to-treat analysis, and trials in which study participants had greater baseline depression severity. Current published trials suggest a small, non-significant benefit of omega-3 FAs for major depression. Nearly all of the treatment efficacy observed in the published literature may be attributable to publication bias.
Indexed as
Identifiers
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.