ArticleBJGP open2018
Withdrawal of unnecessary antidepressant medication: a randomised controlled trial in primary care.
Article in BJGP open, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 21 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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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
21 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- An assessment of the reporting of tapering methods in antidepressant discontinuation trials using the TIDieR checklist.International journal of clinical pharmacy · 2023Pooled it
- Outcomes in deprescribing implementation trials and compliance with expert recommendations: a systematic review.BMC geriatrics · 2023Pooled it
- Approaches for discontinuation versus continuation of long-term antidepressant use for depressive and anxiety disorders in adults.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2021Pooled it
- Trial
- Internet and Telephone Support for Discontinuing Long-Term Antidepressants: The REDUCE Cluster Randomized Trial.JAMA network open · 2024Trial
- Trial
- Trial
- Structured Online Support to Inform and Assist Antidepressant Deprescribing in Primary Care (WiserAD Tool): Protocol for a Pragmatic Randomized Controlled Trial.JMIR research protocols · 2026Article
- Applying the Behavioural Science Approach to Realist Reviews and Evaluations (BARR/E): A Protocol for a Review of Antidepressant Deprescribing Interventions in Primary Care.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Study protocol: combined N-of-1 trials to assess open-label placebo treatment for antidepressant discontinuation symptoms [FAB-study].BMC psychiatry · 2023Article
- Article
- Article
- Long-term antidepressant use in general practice: a qualitative study of GPs' views on discontinuation.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2021Article
- Article
- Prevalence and Determinants of Long-Term Utilization of Antidepressant Drugs: A Retrospective Cohort Study.Neuropsychiatric disease and treatment · 2020Article
- Barriers to discontinuing antidepressants in patients with depressive and anxiety disorders: a review of the literature and clinical recommendations.Therapeutic advances in psychopharmacology · 2020Review
- The 'patient voice': patients who experience antidepressant withdrawal symptoms are often dismissed, or misdiagnosed with relapse, or a new medical condition.Therapeutic advances in psychopharmacology · 2020Article
- How user knowledge of psychotropic drug withdrawal resulted in the development of person-specific tapering medication.Therapeutic advances in psychopharmacology · 2020Review
- Effectiveness of a brief psychological mindfulness-based intervention for the treatment of depression in primary care: study protocol for a randomized controlled clinical trial.BMC psychiatry · 2019Article
- Antidepressant withdrawal - the tide is finally turning.Epidemiology and psychiatric sciences · 2019Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundAntidepressant use has increased exponentially in recent decades, mostly due to long continuation.
aimTo assess the effectiveness of a tailored recommendation to withdraw antidepressant treatment. DESIGN &
settingRandomised controlled trial in primary care (PANDA study) in the Netherlands.
methodLong-term antidepressant users (≥9 months) were selected from GPs prescription databases. Patients were diagnosed with the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI). Long-term users without indication for maintenance treatment (overtreatment) were selected. The intervention consisted of disclosure of the current psychiatric diagnosis combined with a tailored treatment recommendation. Patients were followed for 12 months.
resultsThe study included 146 participants from 45 family practices. Of the 70 patients in the intervention group, 34 (49%) did not comply with the advice to stop their antidepressant medication. Of the 36 (51%) patients who agreed to try, only 4 (6%) succeeded. These figures were consistent with the control group, where 6 (8%) of the 76 patients discontinued antidepressant use successfully. Patients who were recommended to discontinue their antidepressant medication reported a higher relapse rate than the control group (26% versus 13%,
conclusionChanging inappropriate long-term antidepressant use is difficult.
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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.