SynthesisPloS one2014
Disulfiram efficacy in the treatment of alcohol dependence: a meta-analysis.
Synthesis in PloS one, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 3 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 120 papers, 15 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.
The Effect of N-acetylcysteine (NAC) on Treatment of Alcohol and Cocaine Use Disorders: A Double-Blind Randomized Controlled Trial.
Optimal Dosing, Tolerability, and Initial Efficacy of Diclofenac as a KMO Inhibitor in Individuals With Alcohol Use Disorder
Neural Mechanisms of Anxiety During Early and Protracted Abstinence in Alcohol Use Disorder
Who cites it
120 citing papers in PubMed, 15 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 337 citations in OpenAlex.
- Modulating the endocannabinoid system in alcohol use disorder: A translational systematic review and meta-analysis of preclinical and human studies.Molecular psychiatry · 2026Pooled it
- Evidence-based consensus guidelines for the pharmacological management of substance dependence: Recommendations from the British Association for Psychopharmacology.Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England) · 2026Guideline
- The effects of glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP1-RAs) on alcohol-related outcomes: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Addiction science & clinical practice · 2025Pooled it
- Combined pharmacological and psychosocial interventions for alcohol use disorder.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2025Pooled it
- Pharmacological Treatment of Alcohol use Disorder in Patients with Psychotic Disorders: A Systematic Review.Current neuropharmacology · 2024Pooled it
- Psychosocial and pharmacologic interventions to reduce harmful alcohol use in low- and middle-income countries.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2023Pooled it
- The role of nicotinic receptors in alcohol consumption.Pharmacological research · 2023Pooled it
- Which interventions for alcohol use should be included in a universal healthcare benefit package? An umbrella review of targeted interventions to address harmful drinking and dependence.BMC public health · 2023Pooled it
- Baclofen for alcohol use disorder.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2023Pooled it
- Outcomes of deep brain stimulation surgery for substance use disorder: a systematic review.Neurosurgical review · 2021Pooled it
- Comparison of Treatments for Cocaine Use Disorder Among Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.JAMA network open · 2021Pooled it
- Treatment interventions to maintain abstinence from alcohol in primary care: systematic review and network meta-analysis.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2020Pooled it
- [Pharmacological prophylactic treatment for relapse of alcohol dependence : Results of current meta-analyses].Der Nervenarzt · 2017Pooled it
- Pharmacotherapy for Alcohol Dependence: The 2015 Recommendations of the French Alcohol Society, Issued in Partnership with the European Federation of Addiction Societies.CNS neuroscience & therapeutics · 2016Guideline
- Pharmacotherapies for Adults With Alcohol Use Disorders: A Systematic Review and Network Meta-analysis.Journal of addiction medicinePooled it
- Emergency department-initiated oral naltrexone for patients with moderate to severe alcohol use disorder: A pilot feasibility study.Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine · 2025Trial
- Preliminary effects of oral ANS-6637, an ALDH2 inhibitor, on cue-induced craving, safety and alcohol consumption among adults with alcohol use disorder: a proof-of-concept, randomized, human laboratory trial.Alcohol and alcoholism (Oxford, Oxfordshire) · 2025Trial
- Using naltrexone to validate a human laboratory test system to screen new medications for alcoholism (TESMA)- a randomized clinical trial.Translational psychiatry · 2023Trial
- Coadministration of disulfiram and lorazepam in the treatment of alcohol dependence and co-occurring anxiety disorder: an open-label pilot study.The American journal of drug and alcohol abuse · 2016Trial
- Optimizing outpatient pharmacologic treatment for veterans with alcohol use disorder using an academic detailing approach for primary care providers in the United States Department of Veterans Affairs: A retrospective quasi-experimental study.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2026Article
60 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundDespite its success with compliant or supervised patients, disulfiram has been a controversial medication in the treatment of alcoholism. Often, study designs did not recognize a pivotal factor in disulfiram research, the importance of an open-label design. Our objectives are: (1) to analyze the efficacy and safety of disulfiram in RCTs in supporting abstinence and (2) to compare blind versus open-label studies, hypothesizing that blinded studies would show no difference between disulfiram and control groups because the threat would be evenly spread across all groups. METHODS AND
findingsWe searched PubMed, EMBASE and the Cochrane Central Register for RCTs on disulfiram use with alcoholics in comparison to any alcoholic control group. The primary outcome was defined by the authors of each trial. Additional analyses included: blind vs. open-label, with or without supervision, cocaine study or not, and type of control. Overall, the 22 included studies showed a higher success rate of disulfiram compared to controls Hedges'g = .58 (95%CI = .35-.82). When comparing blind and open-label RCTs, only open-label trials showed a significant superiority over controls g = .70 (95%CI = .46-.93). RCTs with blind designs showed no efficacy of disulfiram compared to controls. Disulfiram was also more effective than the control condition when compared to naltrexone g = .77, 95%CI = .52-1.02, to acamprosate g = .76, 95%CI = .04-1.48, and to the no disulfiram groups g = .43, 95%CI = .17-.69. LIMITS INCLUDE: (1) a population of 89% male subjects and (2) a high but unavoidable heterogeneity of the studies with a substantial I-square in most subgroups of studies.
conclusionsBlinded studies were incapable of distinguishing a difference between treatment groups and thus are incompatible with disulfiram research. Based on results with open-label studies, disulfiram is a safe and efficacious treatment compared to other abstinence supportive pharmacological treatments or to no disulfiram in supervised studies for problems of alcohol abuse or dependence.
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.